Increase food availability in the Idleb and Aleppo countrysides by supporting potato farmers and providing fresh vegetables to the most vulnerable families. This project seeks to support potato farmers in Idlib and Aleppo countryside with agricultural inputs to give them the ability to cultivate their lands that are difficult to invest at the present situation, that due to the high cost of agricultural inputs and damage caused by the lack of balance between production costs and its price in the market, so that a lot of farmers stopped cultivating their lands, that led to lack of the agricultural product in the local market, so we are going to support 250 potato farmers (3 donums per beneficiary) on two rounds 100 farmers in autumn round and 150 in spring round that because the spring round is more preferable for the farmers as the production in the area unit gives in the spring round about 70% of the product more than the autumn round. Most of the agricultural inputs help them get an ideal yield will be provided. These inputs are seeds ( 400 kg/donum for autumn round and 160 kg/donum during the spring round), fertilizers ( organic, urea, amino acids and compound fertilizers), pesticides ( Insecticides and fungicides), yield mechanical harvesting with hiring daily workers to support the farmer with yield picking. Farmers will be supported also by covering the irrigation expenses by providing them with diesel fuel to operate their irrigation system.
Technical support will be provided also through farm days conducting, where all the farmers will attend these interactive sessions in the field to share the agricultural knowledge with all the targeted farmers these sessions will be led by our specialist team who will educate them the right technical practices taking into consideration all technical issues related to the plant breeding and pests control, besides that field visits will be conducted by our technical advisors' team to follow up the case of the crops with the farmers step by step.
The criteria of the farmer beneficiary selection come as a following:
1. Have access to irrigated land with 3000 M² minimum space with no more than10000 M² (the priority for smaller owners).
2. The beneficiary has a minimum knowledge of vegetable cultivation.
3. Families with large size above six members with low income.
4. Families headed by women.
5. Families have people with disabilities.
6. Families with children under 5 years old.
7. Families who looking after orphans
The project will support livelihoods in the targeted areas, where each farmer will be supported with the labor to pick up the yield after harvesting. That will give a significant number of un employees the chance to work improving their families' financial circumstances, those workers will be selected according to specific vulnerability criteria.
Furthermore, the IDPs in the targeted locations will be will receive rations of the final production by taking 10 % of the total production from the targeted farmers according to an agreement signed with them, those amounts of fresh potato will be distributed for the most affected people in the communities includes the newly IDPs inside the communities, where potato considered as a traditional essential meal for the people inside Syria, the provided amount of potato will be 40 kg of fresh potato for each family which covers about two months consumption of this item.
Thus, the project provides integrated services to the farmers so that they are guided, directed, and assisted in all stages during the season to achieve integration in the project and ensure the results.