Until 1918 the area within the present frontiers of Syria was part of the Ottoman empire and was governed from Istanbul, as were the areas we know as Iraq, Jordan, Israel and Lebanon. The Turks lost all of these territories because of the defeat in the First World War. As a result of the Sykes - Picot agreement, Syria became a French sphere of influence and, until 1946, France ruled Syria as the responsible mandatory power creating the modem Syrian economy. Although economic and social development was not rapid during the French mandatory period, it was far from negligible; internal security was imposed, roads were built and education and health services improved. Few modem industrial plants were built, but a start was made on irrigation projects and a gradually increasing area of land was cultivated (Lewis, 1987, 7).
Syria covers an area of 185,180 km2, of which about nearly half is poor steppe or semi-arid land, with 30 per cent agricultural land, and only 9 per cent of the agricultural land is irrigated. Potential irrigable land is about 1.6 million hectares with the greatest potential located in the Khabur - (85,000 hectares), and the Euphrates projects - (640,000 hectares) (Mitchell, 1982, 4). The uncultivated land provided some of the fodder required by Syria's several million sheep and farming of all kinds (including sheep rearing) contributed a larger proportion of the gross national product supporting more people than any other activity. The report of the United Nation Economic Survey for the Middle East in the year 1949 claimed that more than two - thirds of Syria's entire population derived their source of livelihood directly from the cultivation of the land, whilst its raw products were the source upon which a large proportion of the remaining population subsisted (UnitedNation, 1949, 22).
Syria is usually divided into five regions: the Mediterranean coast and mountains in the Northwest; the central plains, which extend from Horns north to Aleppo and then east to the Euphrates river; the south-western area around Damascus; the north-eastern plains along and beyond the Euphrates; and the desert region.
The main areas of cultivation are a narrow strip of land along the coast, from the Lebanese to the Turkish frontiers, which enjoys a Mediterranean climate, is exceedingly fertile and produces fruit, olives, tobacco and cotton. East of this strip lays the northward extension of the Lebanese range of mountains, which falls sharply on the east to the Orontes river valley whose marshes have been reclaimed to form part of Syria's most fertile areas. In central Syria this valley joins the steppe - plain, about 150 km wide, which runs from the Jordanian borders north - eastward towards the Euphrates valley.
The plain is traditionally Syria’s major agricultural area, with cereals as the principal crops. In this region one also finds the country’s main cities: Damascus, Horns, Hama and Aleppo. This area may be termed the core of the nation since it contains nearly half of the total population. The importance of this plain is now being challenged by a fourth area, the Gezira, which lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers. Although fertile lands along the banks of the Euphrates and its tributaries have previously been cultivated, the Gezira’s value was only recognized in the early 1950s when large - scale cotton cultivation was introduced in former pasture lands. The Damascus - Southwest region, separated from the core by the northern fringes of the Anti - Lebanon mountains, has a more varied landscape and contains about 27 per cent of the total population
(Taylor, 1972,151-153).
The most significant changes in the geographic distribution of the population have occurred as a result of urbanization. Although the distribution of the population may not have changed greatly at the province level, within provinces there has been a significant redistribution of people with a continuing movement from village to town. In 1960 about 37 per cent of the population was classified as urban but, by 1985, the proportion had risen to 49 per cent (Drysdale, 1987, 73). The urban population increased at an annual rate of 5.5 per cent in 1980 - 1985, compared with 4.5 per cent in 1965 - 1980 with the fastest rates of urban growth in some of the least urbanized provinces. The process of urbanization has put a strain on services in the cities and has led to the growth of shanty towns along the edges of large urban centres such as Damascus and Aleppo. The population of Damascus trebled between 1950 and 1975 and, since then, has increased by another 50 per cent. This growth is fuelled by a continuing influx of people from the country side which cannot possibly support its own rapidly growing population (Lewis,
1987,15). The most dramatic urbanization occurred in the Al-Raqqa province which was
eight per cent urban in 1960 but 39 per cent in 1981. This growth is a result of the Euphrates dam and related irrigation and agricultural projects.
Agriculture retains its position as the mainstay of the Syrian economy despite the existence of a traditionally strong trading sector and partially successful attempts at industrialization. In 1984 the agricultural sector employed 25.4 per cent of a total labour force of 2,246,300 compared with 31.8 per cent in 1979 and 50 per cent in 1975, while manufacturing employed 15 per cent in 1984, compared with 15.6 per cent in 1979 and
11.5 per cent in 1975. Services employed 24 per cent in 1984 compared with 19.4 per cent in 1979; building and construction employed 16.3 per cent (compared with 13.7 per cent); and trade and catering employed 11.3 per cent (compared with 10.2 per cent).
Table C4.1:
Syria: sectoral distribution of the labor force, 1950-1980 (%)
1950 1960 1970 1980
Agriculture 58 54 51 32
Industry 18 19 21 32
Services 24 27 28 36
Source: Richards & Waterbury, 1990,74
Irrigation is the only strategy which can make agriculture secure in dry countries such as Syria. Yields from irrigated land can be five times those on rainfed tracts, and a secure water supply enables more flexibility in cropping as well as enabling an effective high input and high output system of farming (Allan, 1987, 28). Because of its heavy dependence on rainfall, the agricultural output of Syria was considerably affected by adverse weather conditions during several years in the 1970s and by a prolonged drought from 1982 to 1985. As Syria's principal crop, and one which is cultivated mostly on a rainfed basis, cereals suffered particularly seriously from inadequate rainfalls (Meyer,
1987, 44). This is the main reason why the expansion of irrigated areas to reduce
dependence upon rain - fed cultivation has been the stated goal of successive Syrian governments since the 1940s.
Table C4.2:
Syria: land use: 1963-1990 (thousand of ha.)
1963-66 1975 1980 1985 1990
Forest 465 445 466 516 723
Steppe and pasture 5,803 8,631 8,378 8,328 7,869
Uncultivable 3,470 3,487 3,520 3,547 3,777 Cultivable 8,780 5,955 6,154 6,127 6,149 Uncultivated 2,261 479 470 504 523 Cultivated 6,519 5,476 5,684 5,623 5,626 Fallow 3,143 1,776 1,791 1,653 160 Rain-fed 2,826 3,184 3,354 3,318 4,773 Irrigated 550 516 539 652 693 Total 18,518 18,158 18,158 18,158 18,518
Sources: Manners & Nejad, 1985, 265 ; Syrian Arab Republic, 1991,6/4.
The final report of the United Nations Economic Survey Mission provides some insight into the structure of the Syrian economy at the end of the 1940s. According to the report about 90 per cent of the cropping in that period was rain-fed and only very limited
action had been taken to develop the water resources of Syria for irrigation purposes. The irrigation area was estimated at about 280,000 hectares or one-eighth of the land under cultivation. Most of the water was derived from river supplies while wells and springs made only a small contribution (UnitedNation, 1949, 22). The 1950s and 1960s saw a considerable increase in irrigated farming (table C4.3) with the greatest change during this period occurring along the Euphrates where the use of river pumps enabled large areas of land to be brought under irrigation. For the first time in 1955, the irrigated area in Syria probably amounted to around 400,000 hectares approximately 250,000 hectares of which were believed to have been irrigated by pumping and the balance by gravity flow from rivers, springs and underground qanats (Manners & Nejad, 1985,
259). By 1990 the irrigation area in Syria amounted to about 693,000 hectares, and
approximately 559,000 hectares were probably being irrigated by pumping (Syrian Arab
Republic, 1990, 8/4).
Table C4.3
Syria: irrigation area by source of water, 1955-1990 (hectares)
Pump irrigation 1955 1963 1980 1985 1990 River pumps 393,700 186,000 204300 216,900 Groundwater wells 158,100 237,700 250300 342,000 Total 250,000 551,800 423,700 454,600 558,900 Gravity flow Water Wheels 8,100 1,200 Diversion from rivers, springs 111,300 114,100 Total 150,000 119,400 115,300 119,300 134,100 Total 400,000 671,200 539,000 651,900 693,000
Sources: Manners & Nejad, 1985, 259 ; Syrian Arab Republic, 1991, 8/4.
According the figures in table C4.3, there was actually a net loss of irrigated land from the early 1960s until the 1990s. This decline is variously attributed to inundation, water logging, salinization, and the impact of the land reform program which set a ceiling on the ownership of irrigated land. Since the mid 1980s, there has been a new expansion of irrigated land but, according to Meyer (1987), more than 30,000 hectares of old irrigated land were flooded in the reservoir area between 1973 and 1975, and some 4,000 hectares went out of production every year because of increasing salinity in the Lower Euphrates valley (Meyer, 1987, 44).
In 1955, only 48,000 hectares of land were covered by government irrigation schemes and, within the next 15 years, around 140,000 hectares were reportedly irrigated
by government schemes. Particular importance was placed upon the Ghab reclamation project which transformed an area of marsh and swampland in the Orontes valley into some of the most productive farmland in Syria. With the completion of the Ghab project in 1968, attention was turned to making fuller use of the Euphrates and its tributary the Khabur (Manners & Najed, 1985, 261).
Syria suffers from a shortage of agricultural products, which forces the authorities to increase imports of food products from foreign markets and in 1988, for example, food made up about 71 per cent of the country's overall imports (Syrie & Monde Arabe,
1988, No. 408, 1). This situation was caused by a sharp growth in population and it is
predicted that the demand for food will increase by 3.1 per cent annually, a figure that is higher than the annual rate of actual increase in food production, which amounted in the past two decades to 2.8 per cent. Thus food security has become one of the most important elements for the progress and development of Syria.
After a directive from President Hafez Al-Assad in February 1986, Syria began to pay special attention to agriculture and the livestock sector with the aim of achieving self- sufficiency, abundant production for export and, consequently, achieving food sufficiency at the regional level (Syria & Monde Arabe, 1988, No. 408, 2).
Syria has the potential to feed its increasing population and even export basic food staples such as wheat and barley, but over the last thirty years, the picture in the agricultural sector, despite the bright prospects, has been one of stagnation. Some of the blame for this can be levelled at the adverse climatic conditions that have occurred from time to time, but the problem is also political (Mitchell, 1982, 22). Industry became the country's main priority in the fourth five year plan and, with the rush of agricultural workers from the land, small farmers turned to cash crops such as water melons, sugar beet and pistachio nuts. This trend was reversed for the fifth five year plan (1981-1985), which has given agriculture a high priority (The Middle East, 1984, 28). According to Syrian statistics the success of the Syrian fifth five year plan reached almost 75 per cent for total production and around 60 per cent for agriculture and industry (Syria & Monde
Arabe, 1988, No. 409, 3).
With population rising at a rate of well over three per cent per year for several decades and with changes and improvements in domestic food consumption taking place, at the same time the need to increase food output has been inescapable. As a result policies to improve land, as well as the rural infrastructure and rural institutions associated with agricultural production, have been a basic element in national policy and planning for almost three decades. An increase in production is immediately required to meet the national demand for grain which has resulted from the rapid rise in population. Additional pressure has been the steady increase in demand for livestock products
(Allan, 1987a, 22). According to Syrian officials, in 1991 the total amount of water for
irrigation in Syria was 10.6 billion m3 while domestic and industrial water was 2.5 billion m^. The Syrian experts believe that, because of the annual growth and further demands by industry and agriculture, by the year 2,000 Syria could suffer from a shortage of water (CICH, 6 November 1991,4).