Continuous Efforts to Reduce Effects of Drought

DAMASCUS, (ST) -The Minister of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform, Ahmed Qadri, underlined that his ministry is making every effort to continue the work by early warning unit of drought in the light of decreasing amounts of rainfall, climate change and the growing need for agricultural products.

In cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO, the Ministry of Agriculture held here recently the final workshop on” Strengthening the capacity of the early warning unit of drought forecasting to support the implementation of the national strategy of drought.”  

During the workshop, the Minister of Agriculture explained that the succession of drought waves requires more attention to finding a practical framework to deal with scientific systematic basis in collaboration with FAO, through the development of a national strategy for drought management and the creation of an early warning system project starting from the desert areas.

The minister pointed out that the project had achieved positive results that reflected on the interactive work of ranchers and farmers and the continuation of the farmers’ association with the production process.

 “The project also helped to qualify a staff in conducting field surveys, entering and analyzing data, stressing the importance of the data provided by the monthly bulletin of the drought situation due to its direct link by the agricultural production in the targeted areas,” Mr, Qadri added.

“The most important outcomes of this project is the bulletin that monitors the status of drought , which monitors the conditions of the ranchers, the availability of feed and water, the status of field crops as well as the amounts of rainfall and the state of the vegetation and the availability of pasture ,” Mr. Qadri explained.

 He stressed that the ministry is seeking more cooperation with local partners and international organizations that support the continuity of the work of the unit and expanding the scope of its work to include all regions of stability and development work in order to achieve their desired goals,” the Minister clarified.

For her part, the FAO Representative in Syria Eriko Hebbi confirmed that the organization cooperates with the Ministry of Agriculture and updates the database of the project in order to assess the drought situation in Syria, which has reached the red zone in the northwestern areas such as the provinces of Aleppo, Idleb and Hama to the “worrisome situation somewhat.”

“The FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture are very interested and seek to improve the situation of the farmers by mitigating the effects of drought, which increased the negative consequences of the peasants in the difficult conditions experienced by Syria,” Eriko noted.

The FAO Representative pointed out to the importance of providing assistance to the farmers to support them to continue in the production process and improve their economic situation , food security and livelihoods and do apply the emergency response that address the immediate effects of drought.

 “It is necessary to provide support for agricultural production, the rehabilitation of infrastructure, irrigation canals and the development of varieties resistant to drought and facilitate recovery after drought,” Hebbi added.

She pointed out that the organization recently launched a report containing information on the status of crops, the destruction that hit the irrigation systems, displacement of the population that forced them to leave their land and reduction of the planted areas this season.

For his part, the Fund Manager of Reducing the Effects of Drought and Natural Disasters, Eng. Mohamed al -Bahri, reviewed the national strategy of drought management, which included guidance on the government’s response for each stage of drought.

 The strategy provides information on how to deal with the situation in post- drought and reducing the possibilities of exposure to drought on the long-term, implementation of activities drought management and the establishment of a national fund for drought relief, Mr. al –Bahri said.

The early warning system of drought, according to Mr. al -Bahri, aims to monitor drought indicators and assess the drought situation in Syria. The system alerts concerned bodies to the drought situation early that necessary actions may be taken to mitigate the harms and identify areas and groups affected by drought, the severity of the impact, the actions required to face drought, mitigate its effects and risks as well as recover from its effects.

Sharif el –Khatib