USAID promises economic support to northeast Syria, AANES says
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – The US Agency for International Development (USAID) have promised the Autonomous Administration for North and East Syria (AANES) to provide economic support, an official in the AANES said on Wednesday.
The UASID promised to support the agriculture and economic sector in the AANES-held areas following meetings between the two parties, Salman Barudo, co-chair of the Economy and Agriculture Board of the AANES told North Press.
“Supporting the economic sector and accelerating the growth of the domestic production is top priority of the Economy and Agriculture Board of AANES.”
In mid-November 2021, the USAID sent 3,000 tons of wheat seeds to northeast Syria in order to aid the Syrian farmers.
However, the Hasakah-based Agricultural Directorate run by the Syrian government claimed the USAID wheat seeds were not suitable for cultivation.
“The pervious tests applied to the seeds have showed their cultivability. Some seeds, which were distributed to farmers, have even grown,” Barudo said.
The Economy and Agriculture Board distributed the whole amount of the seeds to famers in northeast Syria, Barudo added.
“To combat an anticipated wheat shortage this planting season in NE Syria, USAID is sending 3K metric tons of quality wheat seeds from Iraq to Syrian farmers. 2021’s wheat harvest was one of the poorest on record; these quality seeds will help prevent a food security crisis,” USAID said earlier.
Consequently, amounts of agriculture seeds, to be planted for this year, have dropped and people are concerned about the future crops and food supplies.
The coming agricultural season challenges the AANES after a year of low agricultural production due to record lows both in levels of rainfall and in the level of the Euphrates river, since Turkey has held Syria’s share of water.