Civil unrest is putting 1.4
million people at risk from hunger in Syria, which must raise cereal imports by
around a third to offset a loss in local output, the United Nations' food
agency said Wednesday.
"Continued civil
unrest in the Syrian Arab Republic since mid-March 2011 has raised serious
concern over the state of food security, particularly for vulnerable
groups," the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said.
The agency said that last
year's cereal production in Syria - estimated at 4.2 million tons - was about
10 percent less than the previous five years' average, following late and
erratic rains and widespread civil unrest.
"In several areas, it
is reported that civil insecurity prevented farmers to access their farmland
during the harvest," it said.
Around 1.4 million people
have been put at risk of going hungry since the crisis began, mainly in Homs,
Hama, Damascus, Daraa and Edleb, according to the World Food Program (WFP).
Tens of thousands of people
have already fled to neighboring countries and access to food, water and fuel
is reported to have become increasingly difficult in several areas, the FAO
said.
Syria, which relies on food
imports for almost half of its domestic use, should import around 4.0 million
tons of wheat for food use and maize and barley for feed - about 1 million tons
more than the previous year, it said.
"An estimated 300,000
small farmers and herders in northeastern provinces, who have already suffered
four consecutive seasons of drought, are also affected by the loss of
opportunities from seasonal labor migration to the South and East," the
FAO said.
"In addition, the unrest is affecting pastoralists by restricting
mobility of herds, with negative effects on access to water and pasture, and
reducing access to veterinary drugs and other supplies," it added.http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=376047#
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