The Syrian refugee Abd al-Wahhab Assi has donated the crops of 2000 square metres of land he invested in Algeria to the Syrian refugees, pledging to donate 5 hectares next year that will be distributed to all major centers in Algerian cities.
Assi, a mechanical engineer from Aleppo, fled the war to Turkey then to Algeria in summer of 2012. He started his work in agriculture two years ago, choosing to help Syrian refugees gain access to basic materials that are overpriced or scarce.
According to him, he started with planting wheat last year and selling it for a quarter of a dinar per kilo, which is less than a quarter of its market price.
The plot of land he planted is located in Ghardaia in south central Algeria, and despite the arid climate of the desert, using groundwater to irrigate his crops, he was able to cultivate a variety of vegetables and fruits that did not usually grow in the country, such as Syrian cucumber and eggplants, and pistachios, which are imported at very high prices.
He also allocated 2,000 square meters to Syrian cucumbers to donate next year to the refugees, and to sell to Algerians at 40 dinars per kilo (usually sold at 250 dinars). He added that he is considering planting other varieties of vegetables that are not known in the country, after studying the nature of the Algerian soil and the favorable conditions to grow them, in order to market and sell at quarter of the price.
The only difficulty he faced in his work, according to Assi, was obtaining the seeds due to the Coronavirus and the delays in the shipping of the Syrian seeds.
He also faced some challenges in transportation since the city where he works is located about 900 km from Khenchela in eastern Algeria.
Assi said that his initiative is primarily humanitarian and aims to help curb the exploitation that both Syrian refugees and Algerian citizens are subject to.
Zaman Al Wasl
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