The Syrian regime’s President, Bashar al-Assad has signed new agreements to purchase wheat from Russia. According to regime-owned news outlet Tishreen, the Syrian minister of internal trade, Amr Salem agreed during a meeting with Russian public sector company representatives to follow up on previous contracts for the supply of wheat to Syria.
Salem added that discussions are underway to export surplus supplies of citrus, olive oil, and other agricultural goods to reduce the wheat bill. A source in the Syrian regime’s Ministry of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection also revealed to the Syrian North Press news agency on Wednesday that the regime signed deals with Russian companies to import 600,000 tonnes of wheat. The report states quantities are sufficient to last until the first half of 2023.
According to the regime’s Minister of Agriculture, Muhammad Hassan Qatana, Syria requires 3.2 million tonnes of wheat, but its production of wheat this year reached only 1.7 million tonnes and fell short of expectations due to “exceptional climatic conditions.”
Syrian opposition officials have warned of new levels of food insecurity after a decline in domestic wheat production, as the country has been struggling with recurrent wheat shortages over the past few years. The struggle owes both to the destruction of agricultural infrastructure during the ongoing civil war, which began in 2011, and international sanctions against the Syrian regime.
Woes at Home Compounded by Tensions Overseas
The regime relies on Moscow for the bulk of its wheat imports, so the threat of all-out famine in Syria also grew after Russia's invasion of Ukraine disrupted grain shipments in February. A number of investigations have found that some wheat confiscated from Ukrainian farmers by Russian troops occupying the east of Ukraine has been sold to Syria.
Syria's grain output dropped from an annual average of 4.1 million tonnes prior to the crisis -enough to meet domestic demand - to an estimated 1.05 million tonnes in 2021, according to the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization. Production in 2020 was 2.8 million tonnes.
While Wheat Imports from the Syrian government's ally Russia have plugged some of the gaps, food insecurity across the fractured country is more acute than ever since the war began, due to factors including the Syrian pound's collapse. The World Food Programme says12.4 a million Syrians, or close to 70% of people in the country today, are facing food insecurity.
So far, 379,000 tonnes of wheat have been harvested this year in the Odesa region of Ukraine. The expected yield is 450,000 tonnes - less than the 600,000 tonnes which are needed to meet the domestic needs of people in Ukraine, meaning there would be no surplus to supply to Syrian government-held areas.
Imran Riza, U.N. Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Syria told Reuters that initial indications point to another poor agricultural season after a low harvest in 2021. Similar to last season, he said the harvest had been hit by a delay in the onset of rainfall, prolonged seasonal dry spells, and a devastating early cessation of rainfall.
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