Translation by Yusra Ahmed
(Eqtsad)- Some of the European Union member states have announced their will to provide aid and technical support to the Syrian government, such a move has incited worries of opposition figures who say its a sneaky way to restore relationships with Damascus.
The EU has allocated €6 million in support to Syrian agriculture that will be given to the Damascus government through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Also, Germany has announced separately to give $5 million to support these two sectors via FAO.
Economist Ahmed Masalmah who lives in Syria spoke to Eqtsad, one of Zaman Al Wasl projects, explaining that outcomes of the EU support and aid to regime has political effect more than economical, as the EU’s announcement to support agriculture in Syria has moral rather than economical effects.
Masalmah explained that the announced fund is too modest compared to the tragic situation in Syria and the agriculture sector, moreover, the aid is not usually given in a form of money, but in a form of in-kind assistance and experts and technical support equal to allocated fund.
In the end, the Economist considers that opening channels of connection with the regime via the humanitarian organizations can be considered as a stepping stone to re-build the regime, which was noticed from the regime’s propaganda against opposition.
A new study from the World Food Program (WFP) draws a very bleak picture of Syria’s agricultural sector. The past few years of war have had catastrophic effects on the maintenance of irrigation systems and infrastructure, and they have displaced farming populations, disrupted trade, and caused untold damage to the ecology. And now, again, Syria suffers a drought.
For example, before the uprising in 2011, Syria had a ‘strategic reserve’ of wheat estimated at around 3.5 million tons, roughly equivalent to one year’s consumption, and mostly stored in areas now outside regime control.
In 2013, the government is reported to have imported about 2.4 million tons of wheat. These changes imply a bleak future for the Syrian countryside and suggest that the millions who have been displaced from the rural areas may never return there.
(Eqtsad)- Some of the European Union member states have announced their will to provide aid and technical support to the Syrian government, such a move has incited worries of opposition figures who say its a sneaky way to restore relationships with Damascus.
The EU has allocated €6 million in support to Syrian agriculture that will be given to the Damascus government through the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Also, Germany has announced separately to give $5 million to support these two sectors via FAO.
Economist Ahmed Masalmah who lives in Syria spoke to Eqtsad, one of Zaman Al Wasl projects, explaining that outcomes of the EU support and aid to regime has political effect more than economical, as the EU’s announcement to support agriculture in Syria has moral rather than economical effects.
Masalmah explained that the announced fund is too modest compared to the tragic situation in Syria and the agriculture sector, moreover, the aid is not usually given in a form of money, but in a form of in-kind assistance and experts and technical support equal to allocated fund.
In the end, the Economist considers that opening channels of connection with the regime via the humanitarian organizations can be considered as a stepping stone to re-build the regime, which was noticed from the regime’s propaganda against opposition.
A new study from the World Food Program (WFP) draws a very bleak picture of Syria’s agricultural sector. The past few years of war have had catastrophic effects on the maintenance of irrigation systems and infrastructure, and they have displaced farming populations, disrupted trade, and caused untold damage to the ecology. And now, again, Syria suffers a drought.
For example, before the uprising in 2011, Syria had a ‘strategic reserve’ of wheat estimated at around 3.5 million tons, roughly equivalent to one year’s consumption, and mostly stored in areas now outside regime control.
In 2013, the government is reported to have imported about 2.4 million tons of wheat. These changes imply a bleak future for the Syrian countryside and suggest that the millions who have been displaced from the rural areas may never return there.
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