Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has completed a development project that benefited 1,828 families in the northern parts of Syria.
Co-funded by QRCS and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the project aims to enhance food security and livelihood of villagers in target areas.
The project was pegged at $128,000 in total; $112,000 was contributed by FAO for the purchase of agricultural tools distributed while QRCS paid the $16,000 personnel wages and costs of delivery.
Conducted by QRCS’s office in Turkey, the project directly benefited 549 families in Aleppo, 549 families and Hama, and 730 families in Idlib, three governorates in northern Syria.
Under the project, agricultural supplies have been distributed including winter vegetable seeds, agricultural tools, fertilisers, and pesticide sprayers to help families perform various agricultural processes.
In a press statement, QRCS believes that these distributions will help many farmers in northern Syria in solving some of their challenges in agriculture by securing the supplies needed for cultivating the green lands.
Earlier, the farmers suffered lack of agricultural supplies due to the siege. The success of this multi-benefit project is expected to encourage other humanitarian organisations working in Syria to expand it to other areas, QRCS noted.
QRCS said it conducted an initial survey prior to the distributions, which was completed over 45 days, to identify the needs and social conditions of target families.
QRCS personnel also co-ordinated with municipalities and local authorities to select the beneficiaries.
The QRCS office in Turkey has been working to promote partnership with FAO through such joint projects, which maximise the outcomes for the beneficiaries.