The United Nations launched an appeal for over $20 million Wednesday to help some one million people affected by Syria's worst drought in four decades.
An assessment by U.N. staff in Syria confirmed that the situation "is considerably worse than initially estimated," the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said.
The Syrian government estimates that up to one million people _ predominantly herders and subsistence farmers _ are at risk of losing their livelihoods and of increased malnutrition, OCHA said.
The U.N. found that crop yields dropped significantly in 2007-2008 as a result of poor and erratic rains and the drought reduced vegetation for livestock, OCHA said. As a result, up to 59,000 small herders lost almost all their herds and 47,000 herders lost 50-60 percent of their livestock.
The government has distributed feed on loan to be repaid next season, and has also provided free veterinary medicines and vaccines for free, OCHA said.
In addition, rising food prices have outstripped household incomes and the purchasing power of the general population, especially in the drought-affected areas, the U.N. mission found, according to OCHA.
As a result, many people are eating less, selling assets, or migrating, and anemia, malnutrition and diarrhea are on the rise, especially among children under the age of five and pregnant women, OCHA said. At the same time, it said, the availability of drinking water has also decreased in rural areas of northeastern Syria.
OCHA said the situation is not expected to improve until spring 2009 _ if the rains do not fail for a second year in a row.
The U.N. appeal for $20.2 million includes $14 million for agriculture and assistance to herders and others who have lost all or part of their income, and $5 million for food. The U.N. has already provided nearly $2 million from its emergency fund to three projects in the appeal.
