(Eqtsad)- Abu Omar, a resident in Douma city who was awarded grant of small projects, comes every morning with his son Omar to irrigate his land which he planted with eggplants, corn, marrow and other summer crops which are considered one of the most prominent food items for populations in eastern Ghouta.
Abu Omar says he is not able to tolerate the financial burden in planting the land since who works in agriculture knows very well that until you harvest the crops, you will spend a lot of money which he cannot afford. If he had not received the grant from one of the institutions in eastern Ghouta, he would not have been able to plant his land and continue working and selling crops in the market to make ends meet for his family in addition to irrigating his land which suffered from drought for more than 4 years due to the bad financial situation.
Abu Omar indicated that after he received the grant, he has owned some capital to enable him to operate the project and develop it until he can be able to work in harder economic conditions. He hopes that these projects would expand to include more families who suffer from the same hard living conditions like his family.
It is doubtless that what eastern Ghouta is suffering due to the consequences of the siege is more than what is being offered to fight the siege economically speaking.
Now, there are more than 125000 families in eastern Ghouta, according to Manar Abu Mohamed, the executive director to relief management coordination in eastern Ghouta. Most families are under the poverty line and need immediate intervention to achieve a better humanitarian response.
Manar pointed out there are statistics regarding unemployment, poverty inside Ghouta and they acquired this data through the work of the studies and statistics department subordinate to the association for more than 3 years. The statistics were divided according to documented data in the following way:
Depending on this data, if the small projects were proposed in small numbers, the unemployment rate will not decrease. Hence, the idea of small projects should be proposed powerfully and in just geographical distribution in pro-rata in cities and then we can say that poverty rate will decrease.
The idea of small project funded by institutions and NGOs is one of the most important ways to contribute to decreasing unemployment and poverty in Ghouta, according to Manar.
If we are to talk about what is being offered to families and local residents, we find that small projects is one of the most important things to be offered recently as a form of relief aid received by Syrians which will contribute to increase livelihood for the projects’ beneficiaries.
In this regard, engineer Mostafa al-Tabji, manager of Darna office, confirmed to us that they started working on subscription for the small projects in agricultural field beginning of 2016. They implemented a big part of these projects and offered farmers who do not have financial means to plant the land. The beneficiaries’ number reached 130 in an agricultural area of more than 350 acres with winter and summer crops.
According to al-Tabji, Darna office offered all financial support needed from irrigation, seeds, pesticides and fuel for farmers.
The support is withdrawn when the famer can secure self-support and according to al-Tabji, the project contributed to a recovery in Ghouta’s economy and putting all the agricultural crops in the market in acceptable prices for consumers, according to him.
Al-Tabji added saying, “there are vigorous efforts to continue this type of projects on a bigger level to include most farmers inside Ghouta without discrimination and consequently, this project will be a small beginning for the farmer to revive his agricultural land again which suffered drought and desertification during the past five years due to lack of resources needed for agriculture.”
On his part, Ghalib Ameen, one of the specialists in economic affairs in eastern Ghouta, told Eqtsad that the small project had a pivotal role in securing additional production resources and support important sectors which reached total extinction like agriculture sector and livestock. The projects had also a pivotal role in fighting poverty and unemployment in Ghouta and contribute to pump products in the market which increases offer and decreases prices.
They play an important role in developing qualified skills which run these projects as well as enhance their ambitions.
Ameen indicated that influx of money allocated for these projects and circulating the money locally contributes in pushing Ghouta’s local economy in a positive direction.
In the light of what has been offered so far, the economy and development in eastern Ghouta remain in recovery stage in the light of these projects which are considered one of the most important reasons for families to remain steadfast after being exhausted by wars which have been ongoing for years.
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