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Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread

Should Syria’s economy and currency continue to deteriorate, it is likely that the cost of wheat will also rise, further straining the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in its efforts to maintain bread subsidies and keep basic goods affordable in northeast Syria.

A combine harvests wheat in a field in the countryside of al-Kaswa, south of Syria's capital Damascus, on June 18, 2020. - Heavy rain and reduced violence provided a relief to Syrian farmers with a good harvest this year, as a tanking economy leaves millions hungry across his war-torn country. Prior to the outbreak of the conflict in 2011, Syria produced more than 4.1 million tonnes of wheat, enough to feed its entire population. But production plunged to record lows during the war, boosting reliance on imp
A combine harvests wheat in a field in the countryside of al-Kaswa, south of Damascus, Syria, June 18, 2020. — Louai Beshara/AFP via Getty Images

“To be able to get bread I had to search half the city and stand for hours in front of the ovens — still even then I would often go back home empty-handed,” Ahmad al-Barro, a father of three from Qamishli, told Al-Monitor. Barro, like many others in northeast Syria who live in areas under the control of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, has struggled to provide for his family over the last month as the region has experienced a severe shortage of bread.

The crisis started in late December when owners of private bakeries went on a collective strike in protest of the increasing price of flour, closing their doors until the autonomous administration reduced the price of flour or allowed them to raise the price of bread.

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