Syria's farming

"In Syria, around 9 million people live in rural areas. Agriculture is the main activity in these areas, employing 55% of the labour force. The sector accounted for more than a quarter of GDP and total employment in 2004.

According to the UN "Syria possesses impressive agricultural potential and a reasonably good level of food security". However, productivity in the sector is low and unemployment among adult males is 20%. The illiteracy rate is still a shocking 28% of rural adults. Many factors are to blame for the stagnation of agriculture, chief among them is the small and fragmented nature of land holdings."

From a blog, summary of an International Fund for Agricultural Development IFAD report on Syria. Not that I think the report is very good, but it is always useful to have information. But really, how can you say that the main cause of poverty in Syria is the fragmentation of landholdings when the Assad family plunders the country's riches. But the Rome-based IFAD would never say that. So what you get is another silly report and generic recommendations. And rich consultants.

Someone should also tell the blogger that the name of his blog is really...weird.