FAO seeking $25 million for Turkey & $10 million for Syria immediately
Photo: @WHOSyria / Twitter People in Turkey and Syria, whose lives were uprooted by deadly earthquakes in the early hours of February 6, 2023, are now looking at a food crisis as agricultural systems took a massive hit, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The United Nations agency has scaled its operation in the two countries to monitor the damage to food production and value chains and identify required interventions.
Two earthquakes of 7.8 and 7.7 magnitude hit the region nine hours apart, killing over 45,000 people, injuring several thousands and damaging tens of thousands of houses.
People in poorer areas living in Turkey’s cheapest homes, suffered 3.5 times more damage than their richer neighbours, according to an analysis by global news organisation The Economist.
Many of these homeless have been going hungry in relief camps, according to ground reports, while dealing with the brutal cold with little access to basic amenities such as heating or gas.
Along with residences, massive destruction was observed in food production, transport and storage infrastructure in both countries, according to FAO.
In Turkey, irrigation systems, roads, markets and storage capacity have been damaged, the organisation assessed.
In Syria, crop and livestock production capacity have been majorly disrupted, it added. These include damage to and loss of livestock, agricultural equipment and infrastructure such as greenhouses, irrigation, storage facilities, as well as food and feed production facilities, among others, according to FAO.
Such destruction threatens immediate and longer-term food security, the UN agency noted in the statement released February 17, 2023.
Under the UN flash appeals for the two countries, FAO is seeking the following:
FAO’s priority in both Turkey and Syria is to ensure that the most affected rural communities can sustain and recover basic food production, while supporting local authorities to assess agricultural damage and needs at a wider scale, the organisation noted. “Activities in both countries will focus on supplying agricultural inputs (animal feed, seed, seedlings, fertiliser, fuel, tools, equipment), veterinary care (livestock treatment and vaccination) and unconditional cash transfers for one to three months.”
Damage and needs assessments and associated recovery plans will further inform future actions, it added.
Medical supply and assistance, extending to vaccination and rebuilding health infrastructure was identified by the World Health Organization (WHO), which had initially appealed for $43 million.
On February 14, 2023, the UN health agency said it will need at least double of this amount to to provide the assistance required.
The destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure led to fears of infectious disease outbreak as well, WHO had noted.
Another earthquake of 6.3 magnitude hit the affected regions February 20, 2023, killing at least three and crumbling homes that were already weakened by the earlier quakes, according to a report in the news website BBC.
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