FAO/WFP Crop And Food Security Assessment Mission to The Syrian Arab Republic

Following a request to FAO from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (MAAR) on 27 March 2013, a joint FAO/WFP Crop and Food Security Mission (CFSAM) visited the Syrian Arab
Republic between 18 May and 8 June 2013. In Damascus, the Mission had meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA), The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform (MAAR), and the Ministry of Water Resources. Meetings were also held with the General Establishment for Cereal Trade and Processing, a department within the Ministry of Economy and Trade; the FAO national consultant on livestock; the National Agricultural Policy Centre (NAPC); UNDP; OCHA; the resident FAO office; and the resident WFP office.

From 27 May to 1 June the Mission undertook a short field trip to Homs, Tartous and Al Hasakeh Governorates. In each governorate, meetings were held with MAAR’s Agricultural Directorate. The Mission met small farmers, horticultural producers and traders in Homs and Tartous and visited some
production units, while in Al Hasakeh a group of 15 cereal farmers and livestock owners came to Qamishly to meet the Mission and discuss the current crop and livestock situation in the governorate.

In addition to Government information, other sources of information used by the Mission in its assessment allowing a degree of triangulation included:

• Vegetation-related satellite imagery (NDVI and ASIS);
• a set of questionnaires distributed through, and completed by, MAAR officers in 13 of the country’s 14 governorates (Dara’a was omitted as the current crisis prevented the movement of MAAR officials from that governorate);
• meetings with MAAR officers from 13 of the country’s 14 governorates while they were in Damascus for a training course (again, Dara’a was omitted);
• records and reports from MAAR and the Central Bureau of Statistics;
• recent reports from UN and other agencies;
• discussions with independent NGOs and Internally Displaced People (IDPs).