60% Of Syria In Worst Drought In Decades; 1 Million Displaced, Farmers Irrigating With Filthy Water

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DAMASCUS, Syria, March 8, 2010 (ENS) - Up to 60 percent of Syria's land and over one million people are gripped by the worst drought in 40 years, but a deep funding shortfall for emergency assistance has left the United Nations aid agencies at a loss. The humanitarian arm of the United Nations is being forced to review its response plan for the Syrian population suffering under the three-year dry spell, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, warned today.

The ongoing drought in northeastern Syria has destroyed the agricultural livelihoods of more than one million people, driving hundreds of thousands to urban areas where they face difficult living conditions, according to OCHA. UN assistance has centered on providing a food aid and agricultural packages to farmers and herders in a bid to keep them on their land and re-start agricultural work, particularly with the promise of rainfall during the winter months. But little rain has fallen.

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Meanwhile, vegetable and fruit growers in dry northern Syria are using polluted river water to irrigate their crops, causing outbreaks of food poisoning among consumers, say environmental and medical experts. The experts say the problem stems from sewage and chemicals being allowed to reach rivers in rural areas near Aleppo, Latakia and Rakka. Studies carried out by the High Centre for Environmental Research, at the public Tishreen University in Latakia, have shown since 2007 that the Sanawbar river running through this coastal part of Syria was contaminated and therefore unsuitable for irrigation.

Soil samples taken from areas near the river where vegetables are grown proved to contain significant levels of contaminants and bacteria like salmonella, which are characteristic of polluted water, said Amina Nasser, an expert at the environmental research centre. Other tests have shown that the Quweik river in Aleppo and tributaries of the Euphrates in the Rakka area also contained high levels of pollutants because garbage is regularly dumped nearby and industrial waste and sewage are poured into them. Some experts say that the consumption of crops grown near the rivers, like lettuce, parsley, and spinach, which are sold on local markets and eaten raw, has been the cause of much of the food poisoning reported in the region.

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http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2010/2010-03-08-02.html