Food in Syria

Wheat bread, known locally as خبز عربي, is a daily staple. Syria produced about 1.2 million tonnes of grain in 2025, more than 60% below its average level, while estimated wheat import needs for 2025/26 reached about 3 million tonnes, roughly 70% above the five-year average. Delayed rainfall and high input costs also slowed sowing in 2026. Drought, damaged irrigation, shortages of fuel, seed and fertilizer, unexploded ordnance, conflict and fragmented markets affect production, transport and local availability. People usually obtain food through household purchases and cooking, bakeries, markets, restaurants, cafés and street-food vendors, especially in urban areas. Humanitarian food baskets, cash or vouchers, fortified wheat flour, subsidized bread, school meals and nutrition services provide additional pathways, but access depends on location, need, registration, partner coverage, funding and security. There is no verified nationwide minimum food supply or single national restaurant and catering system. Border conditions and damaged transport networks can further change what reaches a market. Food insecurity estimates use different dates and definitions. WFP has reported 7.2 million people as acutely food insecure, with only 18% of the population considered food secure in the relevant assessment. FAO's Emergency Resilience and Food Security Programme for 2025–2027 identifies 14.5 million people as food insecure. Internally displaced people, returnees, women-led households, children, pregnant and breastfeeding women and people in remote areas receive particular attention in assistance planning. WFP supported 5.8 million people in 2025 and provided fortified flour for about 4 million people, but its bread programme was placed on hold in 2026 because of funding shortages. Assistance is programme- and funding-dependent rather than a universal benefit. Common ingredients include wheat bread, bulgur, rice, legumes, vegetables, olive oil, yogurt, labneh, meat and fish. Meat, nuts and dairy products depend strongly on household income and region. Electricity and fuel shortages can make simple, low-energy cooking more practical than recipes requiring long cooking times. Regional food patterns overlap because of migration: Aleppo is associated with several kinds of kibbeh and grilled foods; Damascus with kibbeh and حرّاق إصبعو; Daraa, Quneitra and As-Sweida with mansaf malahi at weddings and celebrations; Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor with thareed; and the Lattakia coast with fish, sayadiyah, samaka harra and fish kibbeh. These associations are not exclusive. Ramadan iftar, shared meals and the neighbourhood exchange known as سكبة are food-related social practices, while broader religious and cultural traditions belong to a separate subject. Food safety has a formal legal basis in Law No. 19 of 2008 on food safety, health and quality and Legislative Decree No. 8 of 2021 on consumer protection. The Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, Syrian Arab Organization for Standardization and Metrology (SASMO), the Syrian Codex Contact Point and other authorities share responsibilities. In practice, implementation is fragmented, and assessed food-safety capacity remained low in 2024–2025. Water and sanitation problems, power cuts affecting refrigeration, weak cold chains, non-standardized markets and spoiled or poorly controlled imported food create risks. Consumers should check cleanliness, packaging, expiry information, storage temperature and signs of spoilage. No single nationwide complaint channel has been verified. Food prices vary by product, market and governorate. FAO's Food Price Monitoring and Analysis system, WFP and the World Bank publish market information, while seasonal conditions also affect costs. A November 2025 minimum-expenditure basket was about 20% lower than a year earlier, but the official minimum wage covered only about half of its food component; a price decrease therefore does not necessarily make a sufficient diet affordable. Cereal marketing follows a roughly July-to-June cycle, while fruit and vegetable availability is more seasonal. Drought has affected Syria for more than 40 years. Rainfall from November 2024 to May 2025 was more than 50% below the long-term average, alongside water scarcity, soil and infrastructure damage and desertification. Responses include irrigation repair, drip and water-efficient systems, climate-smart agriculture, seed-system restoration, crop diversification, Farmer Field Schools, livestock restocking, local markets and landmine or unexploded-ordnance clearance. Olive production is a major priority, covering about 700,000 hectares and involving about 300,000 farming families. The 2026–2030 National Agriculture Strategy provides a policy framework, but implementation depends on financing and access to agricultural inputs.