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Sweida Without Bread: A Severe Crisis Threatening Food Security
Most of the public bakeries in Sweida Governorate stopped today, Wednesday, September 24, due to a shortage of flour and the failure to receive new supplies to the region, worsening the residents' suffering in obtaining the essential food item.
According to the "Sweida 24" Facebook page, bakeries in the cities of Sweida, Shahba, Salkhad, along with several private bakeries, did not distribute bread to citizens today, which has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and the urgent need of the population.
The bread crisis in Sweida dates back to the cessation of the interim government in Damascus from supplying the governorate with wheat since an siege was imposed on the area in mid-July, following sectarian massacres that occurred. Bakeries now rely entirely on aid provided by the World Food Program through the Red Cross, but these supplies are not enough to meet daily needs, which exceed 120 tons of flour; the incoming quantities only cover half of that, according to a source in the bakery sector.
In a previous field tour, the head of the relief committee in the governorate, Fadi Asharani, emphasized the urgent need to increase flour allocations immediately, and to secure a reserve stock of at least 100 tons to face emergencies. However, the situation remains delicate without immediate solutions.
The crisis is worsening with the continued shortage of diesel, which disrupts bakery operations and further threatens the food security of the governorate, with real risks if authorities do not take urgent measures to increase supplies and organize them, in fear of repeating the siege scenes that the area suffered from in the past.
