Syrian farmers returning to their war-ravaged villages are struggling to rebuild livelihoods amid destroyed infrastructure, scarce water supplies and limited resources.
In Abbadeh Village, Damascus countryside, farmer Abdulrouf Hamideh found his orchard, wells and home completely destroyed, forcing him to start over.
Dependent entirely on agriculture, Hamideh said he had no choice but to return despite the devastation.
"My orchard area is 27 dunum. It used to have fruit trees, wheat and vegetables. When I returned, I found it completely destroyed. The wells were damaged, the houses destroyed. I came back to square one, starting from scratch," he said.
For Hamideh, farming is more than a livelihood, it’s identity.
"I am from 'Abbadeh' Village. My name is Abdulrouf Hamideh. Our village belongs to the Damascus countryside province. Our family works as farmers, we can't go to the cities to work at offices or as drivers. For us, the only work that pays off is farming. This orchard represents my homeland and whole life," he added.
Hamideh is now grappling with a severe water shortage, which has drastically reduced his crop production and has limited him to basic vegetable farming.
"I had three water wells producing 4 inches of water each. Now most of them are lost. I used to produce 12 inches of water and now I can get only one inch of water so I can cover my basic needs. One inch of water can only cover growing vegetables. I can't grow wheat or barley because the amount of produced water is not enough," he said.
Fellow farmer Issa Hamida echoed the struggle.
"When returned, we found all of the work achieved previously destroyed. I had 70 dairy cows but now I have only three cows. The difficulties are mainly about the groundwater, which is very deep, and needs big pumps to get out. The electricity needed for such pumps is not available and solar energy costs a lot if we want to buy," said Hamida.
Despite the struggle, Hamideh is slowly working to repair his house and restore a semblance of normal life despite limited resources.
"The house is being rehabilitated gradually exactly like the orchard. I am trying to repair what's most necessary so I can live in it. The orchard can't be revived. I am starting from scratch now. I must work hard again and dig water wells again even with the very few resources I have," he said.
Syrian farmers rebuild lives from scratch amid water shortages, damaged infrastructure
Syrian farmers rebuild lives from scratch amid water shortages, damaged infrastructure
Syrian farmers rebuild lives from scratch amid water shortages, damaged infrastructure
