Speeches Shim
Last updated: June 16, 2021
Over the last decade, the agriculture sector in northeast Syria has been devastated by the effects of the Syrian revolution, ISIS occupation, and the fight to remove ISIS forces. In Deir-ez-Zour governorate, where agriculture remains the main source of livelihoods, orchards and large areas of farmland have been destroyed.
Due to infrastructure damage from the Syrian conflict, farmers in northeast Syria’s Deir ez-Zour governorate relied on diesel generators to pump water from the Euphrates river into the irrigation system. However, with the high cost and low availability of fuel, farmers could not get sufficient water to irrigate their crops. Compared to diesel generators, commercial electricity is a much more efficient, cost-effective, and cleaner source of power for water pumps.
Dawud, a farmer in Deir ez-Zour, grew up farming cotton and wheat in the Euphrates River Valley. In 1998, he decided to diversify his family’s business by using some of their land to start an agricultural nursery.
For the past two years, Dr. Asfari* would start his shift at a local public hospital by taking stock of the day’s limited supply of medical grade oxygen. As head of the hospital’s neonatal department, Dr. Asfari would spend most shifts anxious that a patient in need would arrive after their last oxygen cylinder was consumed.
After years of conflict and ISIS control, the medical infrastructure in Deir ez-Zour was left neglected or destroyed, leaving people in the community with few options for basic health services.
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