VZCZCXRO4162
OO RUEHBC RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHDM #0070/01 0211316
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211316Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7269
RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 5911
INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME IMMEDIATE 1014
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0867
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 0821
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 DAMASCUS 000070 
 
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC PRIORITY 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR PRM/ANE, DEPT FOR USAID, CAIRO FOR FAS, LONDON FOR 
MILLER, PARIS FOR NOBLES, ROME FOR WFP WATCHER 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/21/2020 
TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON FAS PREL SOCI SY WFP
SUBJECT: DROUGHT UPDATE: WFP RENEWS SYRIA AID APPEAL 
 
REF: A. 09 DAMASCUS 619 
     ¶B. 09 DAMASCUS 432 
     ¶C. 09 DAMASCUS 499 
     ¶D. 08 DAMASCUS 874 
     ¶E. 08 DAMASCUS 857 
     ¶F. 08 DAMASCUS 847 
     ¶G. 08 DAMASCUS 820 
     ¶H. 08 DAMASCUS 792 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: UN World Food Program (WFP) Country 
Representative Muhannad Hadi requested on January 13 that the 
United States donate food aid valued at $10 million to the 
drought appeal for northeast Syria.  WFP seeks to begin food 
distribution in February but thus far has received only a 
fraction of the contributions necessary to achieve the 
program's goals.  Hadi argued that WFP will be forced to 
either reduce the number of beneficiaries or cut individual 
food rations if the funding target remains unmet.  After 
disastrously low rainfall levels and crop yields in 2008, the 
Syrian agricultural sector rebounded somewhat in 2009 and may 
see a record national wheat crop in 2010.  Nonetheless, 
recovery in severely affected northeast Syria will not happen 
quickly, as the current lack of food, outmigration of 
manpower, long-term depletion of groundwater, rise in fuel 
prices, and collapse of government services present 
continuing challenges to resuming the cultivation of farmland 
and normal everyday life.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
WFP SEEKS $10 MILLION U.S. CONTRIBUTION 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) UN World Food Program (WFP) Country Representative 
Muhannad Hadi urged the United States, during a January 13 
meeting with Charge d'Affaires Hunter and Poloff, to donate 
$10 million to the Emergency Response to the Drought in 
Northeast Syria, which was launched by WFP in November to 
raise $22.3 million within the framework of the overall $52.9 
million Syria Drought Response Plan announced in August 2009. 
 (NOTE: As described in Damascus 619, the SARG previously 
persuaded the UN to re-brand the "2009 Joint Drought Appeal" 
as the "Syrian Drought Response Plan" because of the 
government's aversion to the optics of an "appeal" or 
"emergency."  END NOTE.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Emergency Response aims to provide food rations 
covering 75 percent of daily nutritional needs to the most 
vulnerable households (approximately 300,000 beneficiaries) 
in the severely affected northeastern governorates of 
Al-Hassakeh, Al-Raqqa, and Deir Ezzor through the next 
harvest in July 2010.  The project seeks to begin food 
distribution in early February. 
 
¶4. (C) To date, contributions from the UN Central Emergency 
Response Fund and the governments of Australia, Ireland, 
Saudi Arabia, and Sweden account for only $5.4 million of the 
$22.3 million approved budget for the project.  WFP 
anticipates that the $10 million of in-kind food assistance 
sought from the United States would fund three months of 
operations (food distribution of 10,839 metric tons). 
Further funds are also being sought from the European 
Commission.  If the project does not receive adequate 
support, Hadi argued that WFP will be forced to either reduce 
the number of beneficiaries or cut the food ration for each 
beneficiary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
BRIGHTER PROSPECTS IN '10, BUT CONTINUING NEED IN NORTHEAST 
SYRIA 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶5. (SBU) In all, WFP estimates that about 1.3 million Syrians 
have been affected by the four-year drought (refs A, B, C, 
F).  Of those, approximately 800,000 are in dire need of 
assistance.  Three Joint UN Needs Assessments conducted 
between August 2008 and June 2009 concluded that directly 
affected rural populations have lost almost all sources of 
livelihood and have resorted to significantly reducing their 
food intake, migrating to urban centers, and removing 
children from school in order to work.  In November, Hadi 
reported that the SARG was providing relief for about 500,000 
people, with the WFP hoping to provide assistance to another 
 
DAMASCUS 00000070  002 OF 003 
 
 
300,000. 
 
¶6. (SBU) After the disastrously low rainfall levels and crop 
yields in 2008, the Syrian agricultural sector rebounded 
somewhat in 2009.  Recent figures released by the Ministry of 
Agriculture claim that the wheat crop rose to 3.8 million 
metric tons (MT) last year, well above the 2.1 million MT 
harvested in 2008 and an improvement upon the 3.3 million MT 
harvest forecast by the SARG earlier last year (ref B).  Post 
judges the official harvest statistics to be broadly 
accurate, estimating actual 2009 wheat yields to be in the 
range of 3.8-4.0 million MT. 
 
¶7. (SBU) However, the 2009 crop figures fell below historical 
averages, and much of the improved farming conditions during 
the 2008-09 growing season (October to June for wheat) eluded 
the severely drought-stricken northeastern governorates, 
resulting in continued outmigration during the first half of 
the year.  Hadi described visits to villages in the region 
that were significantly depopulated due to residents' 
inability to sustain agricultural or pastoral livelihoods. 
 
¶8. (C) Prospects for the 2010 harvest are more encouraging, 
and multiple sources forecast a possible record national 
wheat crop approaching 5 million MT this year.  With a surge 
in rainfall late in 2009 (rain also fell throughout the 
country over the last week), some areas in the northeast 
received eight times the level of precipitation seen in 2008. 
 Nonetheless, aquifers remain low from years of drought and 
overpumping, and the recent increase in precipitation may 
only slow their decline.  A Qamishli resident reached by 
telephone on January 18, just before two days of rainstorms, 
confirmed that the recent weather relief was welcome but 
insufficient.  "Things are greener at least, but right now 
there is no rain and we need more," he said.  The resident 
came to Damascus in 2009 to work as a waiter because he could 
not find work in his drought-stricken region.  Homesick for 
his family, he returned to Qamishli in August.  He is now 
considering returning to Damascus because of the lack of 
employment opportunities in Qamishli, which he attributes 
partially to the drought. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The most recent WFP monitoring visit to the region 
occurred earlier this month and observed that, due to the 
rainfall of recent months, "people who left and migrated last 
April, May, and June 2009 are returning slowly to their 
homes."  Still, despite recent precipitation levels, WFP 
monitors report that sustained assistance is needed to feed 
the affected population and to help them prepare to replant 
and cultivate lands for the next harvest season.  The 
migration of manpower, long-term depletion of groundwater, 
and rise in fuel prices present further challenges to 
resuming the cultivation of farmland.  Rangelands have also 
been severely deteriorated and may take two sound rainy 
seasons to regain good levels of fertility.  And despite the 
improved conditions, government services -- including health 
care and schools -- are functioning infrequently or not at 
all. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
WFP POINTS TO IMPROVED FOOD DELIVERY AND DISTRIBUTION 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶10. (C) During the November meeting, Hadi stated that the WFP 
had encountered no additional problems with importing its 
food shipments into Syria after resolving with the SARG 
delays in the approval of rice shipments that arrived at 
Syrian ports earlier in 2009 and in 2008 (refs A, D, E, G, 
H).  Hadi reaffirmed last week that food shipments are 
entering the country without difficulty. 
 
¶11. (C) COMMENT:  As was the case last year, WFP continues to 
struggle to convince international donors to contribute to 
its drought response efforts in Syria.  The branding of this 
new WFP request as an "Emergency Response" suggests that 
either the SARG has swallowed hard and dropped its 
ideological opposition to describing circumstances in 
northeast Syria as an "emergency" or that the UN has decided 
the situation is so dire that it merits disregarding SARG 
objections in order to attract the needed attention of 
donors.  A timely U.S. contribution to the current 
humanitarian appeal could send another positive signal 
 
DAMASCUS 00000070  003 OF 003 
 
 
regarding U.S.-SARG engagement and highlight U.S. 
humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria.  END COMMENT. 
 
HUNTER