Bread crisis looms in Syria amid low wheat production

The bread crisis in Syrian regime areas is expected to become worse in the next few months due to drought and its subsequent impact on wheat crop production.
A man carrying bags of bread walks as a patrol of US military vehicles is seen in the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Syrian Hasakeh province along the border with Turkey on Feb. 8, 2020.
A man carrying bags of bread walks as a patrol of US military vehicles is seen in the town of Tal Tamr in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakah province along the border with Turkey on Feb. 8, 2020. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
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Khaled al-Khateb
@khaleedalkhteb
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ALEPPO, Syria — Recent remarks by Syrian Agriculture Minister Mohammad Hassan Qatana on a decline in wheat production have raised fears that a full-fledged bread crisis is on its way in Syria. 

Qatana told the Syrian government-affiliated Al-Watan news site May 17, “Wheat yields are not enough to meet all needs [of the population].” This means Syrians will likely be waiting in long lines outside bakeries.

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