According to the United Nations, four million Syrians, which is about a fifth of the country’s population, are unable to produce or buy sufficient food, and the situation is expected to further deteriorate in 2014 if the war continues. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP) reported that domestic production over the next twelve months is expected to significantly decrease. 

Full UN Report

The two-year old conflict has claimed the lives of 93,000 people and displaced 4.25 million more, with 1.6 million people forced to leave the country. By the end of the year, the number of people in need of urgent humanitarian aid is likely rise to 10 million, UN agencies have warned the international community. There is also a significant lack of drugs or vaccines for animals and vets to administer livestock. "Due to higher prices, more Syrian livestock are being sold in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. With the virtual loss of veterinary services within Syria, livestock diseases are being transmitted to neighboring countries, thereby posing a potentially serious regional animal-health problem," said the report. 

FAO has launched an appeal to the international community for $41.7 million to assist 768,000 people and has so far received only $3.3 million. FAO and WFP have said that funding must be secured by August in order to ensure that farmers will be able to harvest wheat until mid-2015. 

Food is excluded from U.S. and European trade sanctions imposed on President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

ALSO SEE: Syria In Crisis

 

Reach Executive Producer Syuzanna Petrosyan here. Follow her on Twitter.