General Information The liberated Northern Homs countryside, which is located south of Hama governorate and north of Homs city, consists of Talbiseh, Ar-Rastan, and Taldu sub-districts. The total area of cultivable land in liberated Northern Homs countryside is almost 10% of the total area of cultivable land in Homs governorate. The liberated North- ern Homs countryside does not have any border access with neighboring countries and it is besieged by regime and diverse militias checkpoints which impose siege and prevent the introduction of food, medical supplies and consumer products since the seventh of June 2012. Idleb Aleppo Ar-Raqqa Lattakia Hama Deir-ez-Zor Ar-Rastan Tartous Qabu Taldu Talbiseh Ein Elniser Nasra Shin Al Makhrim Jeb Ej-Jarrah Kherbet Tin Noor Tall Kalakh Homs Hadideh Sokhneh Farqalas Al Quasir Raqama Homs Hasyaa Sadad Mahin LEBANON Qaryatein Tadmor Study area Hama IRAQ Ar-Rastan Rural Damascus Major road River Talbiseh DaQambuasTaclduus Ein Elniser Secondary road Stream Homs Kherbet Tin Noor Sub-district boundaries Almost 300,000 of the inhabitants live in the region including regional inhabitants and IDPs from El qusour, Waar and old Homs neighborhoods. People suffer absolute poverty and scarcity of food because the single path available to enter food and consumer products is regime’s checkpoints at five times of their real price. In the fifth year of the siege and with the scarcity of employment opportunities, the prices of food products increased to unprecedented levels and incidents of malnutrition diseases emerged and starvation threats the inhabitants of the region which was famous for farming and considered as a food reservoir for its neighbors because it is located within the first and second agro-ecological zones, hence, agriculture used to be the main source of income for most of its residents. Map: Agricultural stabilization zones in the studied region and Homs governorate Aleppo Idleb Ar-Raqqa Lattakia Hama Deir-ez-Zor Tartous Homs LEBANON Study area Hama Ar-Rastan Annual precipitation rate - mm IRAQ Talbiseh Qabu Taldu < 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Ein Elniser 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Damascus 0 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 , , - - - - - - - - , 1 1 < 1 - - 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 Homs 0 0 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Kherbet Tin Noor ,0 9 1 Map: Agricultural stabilization zones in the studied region and Homs governorate Idleb Ar-Raqqa Lattakia Hama Deir-ez-Zor Tartous Homs LEBANON Study area Hama Agro-ecological zones First agro-ecological zone Ar-Rastan Second agro-ecological zone Damascus Talbiseh Qabu Taldu Rural Damascus Third agro-ecological zone Ein Elniser Fourth agro-ecological zone Homs Kherbet Tin Noor Fifth agro-ecological zone Free Syrian army and some moderate fractions control the region which has been Vulnerable to air and ground bombardment for more than four years. Figure: Cultivated Land Area Comparing Cultivated Lands Between 2011 and 2016 • Cultivated land area decreased by 28% due to security problems. • wooded land area decreased by 26% due to fires, drought and firewood collection. • A large portion of the irrigated land turned into rainfed land. • In general, the region currently relies on strategic crops (wheat and barley) and the cultivation of aromatic plants (cumin, anise, nigella and coriandrum). • The area of land planted with potatoes and vegetables decreased, and olive cultivation has significantly decreased. Obstacles and Difficulties Faced by Agriculture Sector in the Study Area 1- Insufficient rainfall, drought and lack of water resources in the region after cutting and disruption of the following irrigation networks: • Homs and Hama main networks. • Houla irrigation network fed by Taldu dam. • The Romanian irrigation canals in the following villages: Dar Kabira, Hobub Elrih, Halmuz, Tir Maallah and Ghanto. • Projects for dragging water from Orontes river have stopped. • Lack of implementation of new irrigation projects or the use of advanced techniques for the optimal investment of water resources. 2- Difficulty of securing agricultural production requirements and the high cost of seeds, fertilizers, agricultural and veterinary medicines, and agricultural equipment. 3- The high cost of diesel, which contributes to a decrease of irrigated agricultural land area and the farmer inability to do supplementary irrigations for some strategic crops such as wheat, and inability to use well water for irrigation. 4- Poor financial situation of farmers and their inability to fund agricultural projects. 5- Farmers planted more profitable crops such as aromatic crops instead of strategic crops. 6- Many industries that depend on agricultural crops and market them have stopped. 7- Security dangers by the Syrian regime that directly targets crops to reinforce siege and starvation policy. 8- The absence of the regulatory role of public authorities through agricultural extension. 9- The weakness of agricultural mechanization because public authorities do not own agricultural tractors, harvesters, threshers and water tanks. 10- Agricultural soil degradation is not compensated by providing environmentally secure fertilizers and pes- ticides. 11- The significant decline in the cultivated areas with trees as a result of fires and unfair firewood collection and lack of compensating of trees through Nurseries. Livestock Statistical studies show a significant decrease in the numbers of livestock in general, with the exception of sheep. It is worth mentioning that the increase in the number of sheep and goats is much less than natural increase for the following reasons: • Nomadic herding of sheep stopped and was replaced by grazing inside the sub-district or even inside the village. • Lack of promoting sheep and goats outside the sub-district and the inability to buy meat due to poor financial resources of the citizen. Year Cows Sheep and Goats chicken poultry Egg- laying hens poultry bee hives 2011 20,365 99,355 115 7 7,369 2016 7,798 136,000 25 -- 1,500 Difficulties and Obstacles Faced by the Livestock Sector • Scarcity and high prices of medicines, vaccines and necessary supplies for livestock. • The absence of central authority that provides advice, guidance and veterinary services for free or at nom- inal cost. • The difficulty of securing fodder and its high prices. • Insufficient quantities of green fodder due to the general decrease of irrigated areas. • Lack of industrial projects that benefit from the milk. • Spread of communicable and infectious diseases, resulting in the deaths of large numbers of livestock..