ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Farmers in northeast Syria (Rojava) are struggling to find buyers for this year’s barley production, as the country slides deeper into an economic meltdown. Skyrocketing inflation has made life especially difficult for many Syrians this year. Some farmers say they cannot even recover the money they spent on planting the barley. The value of the Syrian pound has plummeted in recent months, crashing from nearly 1,200 per US dollar in January to now trading for up to almost 2,500 Syrian pounds per dollar in some off-market currency exchanges. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (NES), known to Kurds as Rojava, claims it is attempting to help the suffering farmers by purchasing come of the barley directly off them. Nabila Mohammed, co-chair of the NES-affiliated Agriculture Development Company, told Rudaw on Monday that they will buy the barley off farmers for 150 pounds per kilo, despite not necessarily needing it. She says this is a better option for the farmers, “rather than waiting for the traders to buy it.” Dali Hamo, a farmer from Qamishli’s Ali Faro village disputes this, saying the cost of transporting the barley to one of the five government storage centers in the region does not make it economically worthwhile. “We went to hire a truck [to transport the barley to a receipt center]. They told me it costs 400,000 to hire a truck. The carriers [who load the barley] said that they will load it for 175,000. I calculated it and found out it would cost me 110-115 pounds [per kilo],” Hamo told Rudaw on Monday. The farmer planted 1,300 tonnes of barley this year. He decided to sell half of the product to a “trader for 115 pounds [rather than selling it to the NES],” but cannot find a buyer for the other half. The administration has bought 27,000 tonnes of barley since June 7, according to figures obtained from the NES’ agriculture and economy board. Last year, the NES bought 153,000 tonnes of barley, paying 100 pounds per kilo. However, with the staggering inflation, the value of the pound against the dollar was much higher than now. An estimated 900,000 hectares of barley and wheat have been planted in Rojava, which according to the agriculture and economy board is almost 60 percent barley. The dramatic decrease in the value of the Syrian pound has affected the lives of nearly everyone in Syria. Before Syria spiraled into conflict in March 2011, one US dollar was worth around 45 pounds. In addition to barley, wheat farmers in northeastern Syria have also found it difficult to find ethical buyers, who can pay for their product at a fair price. After pressured farmers reluctantly began selling their wheat to areas under the control of the Assad regime, the NES began prohibiting the sale of what to the regime, and offering a better price. Rojava authorities now pay $0.17 for a kilo of wheat, while Damascus pays $0.14. They both pay in pounds, but Rojava’s price is pegged to the dollar, in a bid to persuade farmers not to sell to Damascus. Additional reporting by Rangin Sharo from Qamishli
