Beware of the afterdrought

"DAMASCUS - A severe drought is threatening Syrian agriculture and reducing the country’s wheat reserves, according to farmers and agricultural experts.

The agriculture ministry now predicts that the country will produce only three million tons of wheat this year, a sharp fall on the 4.7 million tons initially projected.

Experts blame a ten-month-long drought, the worst the country has faced since a devastating drought in 1990-91.

The drought has primarily affected northeastern Syria, the main agricultural area. Al-Hasaka, a key farming province, received only 20 to 25 per cent of its average rainfall in 2007 and 2008, the state-run newspaper Al-Thawra said in May.

In the prime wheat-growing areas, rainfall has averaged between 15 and 30 per cent of normal levels, according to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture. Wheat accounts for over 80 per cent of Syrian cereal crops, according to the US agency, with 75 per cent of the production concentrated in the northeast.

The ongoing drought, coupled with a heat wave last spring, have devastated not only agriculture but also livestock, which are heavily dependent on grain fodder.

Nearly 30 per cent of the Syrian population is employed in farming." Read more here.

Beware: droughts in the middle east are often followed with political violence.