Damascus-Sana
The project aims at achieving food security, fighting hunger for targeted families, returning displaced people to their villages after liberation from terrorism and improving the income level of rural families, which will improve the household food situation.The project is implemented by the World Food Program and the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Agriculture in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The idea of the project, according to Engineer Omar Shalit, President of the Damascus Chamber of Agriculture in the establishment of home gardens for women heads and training of beneficiaries and beneficiaries in the cultivation of home gardens as well as training families to manufacture surplus vegetables and fruits and provide jobs for families who will operate food processing units through community committees that choose beneficiaries and achieved It is true that the components of the project include a drip irrigation network for an area of 500 m 2 and summer seedlings, including tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, as well as winter seeds include beans, peas and onions rainbow in addition to 5 kg of balanced fertilizers and agricultural medicines And the establishment of food processing units and a basket of food during the preparation of the project period.
Shalt told SANA Economic Bulletin that the home gardens project in Damascus countryside started in 2017 in 6 areas including Yabroud, Rankous and Qatna as the first stage. The number of beneficiaries reached 685 beneficiaries. The number of beneficiaries in the three phases reached 2,800 beneficiaries who meet the targeting criteria while the next plan includes 1500 beneficiaries in new areas.
With regard to the food processing unit, Shalit explained that the aim of its establishment is to manufacture surplus production of home gardens and provide a source of income for families working in the manufacturing unit as well as manufacturing for others for specific wages, and therefore the processing unit is equipped with the necessary tools to operate the value of 2 million pounds, indicating the existence of a plan to establish eight units Food processing for agricultural products in those areas and equipped with all the necessary equipment for the manufacture of agricultural products in the seasons of production, where the manufacturing unit is a small income-generating projects and a nucleus for future expansion by a medium project for food processing.
It is worth mentioning that the project is one of the small agricultural projects and contributes to achieve self-sufficiency for the targeted families of summer vegetables tomato, eggplant, pepper and winter vegetables onion, bean, peas and provide a source of income for the beneficiary families through the sale of surplus consumption in addition to achieving added value through manufacturing Surplus in the food processing unit and sell it directly.
Nadim Mualla
SANA Economic Bulletin