Food insecurity in Syria reaches record levels, the government denies
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Monday, the Minister of Trade and Consumer Protection of the Syrian government, Amr Salem, denied UN reports that say about 60% of Syrians suffer from food insecurity.
In statements to the pro-government al-Watan newspaper, Salem said, “food is secure and more than excellent” and that there are great efforts by the government to secure large quantities of wheat.
The minister also talked about the presence of a quantity of 275,000 tons of wheat sufficient for the end of next April.
He pointed out that there are large quantities that have been contracted on their way to Syria, and their number is more than nine ships worth hundreds of billions.
In 2021, Syria witnessed its lowest level of wheat production in 50 years, according to a recent report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
This coincided with a warning issued by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), where it stated that Syria was suffering from the worst drought in 70 years during the summer.
According to a research entitled Three Signs of Imminent Famine in Syria in the Absence of Immediate Action issued by the Center for Policy and Operations Research on December 10, the demand for humanitarian assistance in Syria has never been greater.
Syria ranks 101 out of 113 countries on the list of the Food Security Index for the year 2021 issued by the Economic Information Unit of the British Economist magazine.