Future projection for Syrian food industry

Syria is a middle-income developing country with an economy that heavily depends on the food and agricultural sectors. However, with the crisis, which started in March 2011, Syria's food and agricultural industries have been badly affected. While the most of the processing factories and agricultural facilities such as greenhouses, irrigation canals and pumps have been damaged in the conflict areas, this resulted in a huge recession in the agricultural productivity of Syria. It is estimated that this will impact the country to meet the future food requirements as well. In this study the food and energy (nutritional) requirements in Syria for the years 2020, 2030, 2040 and 2050 were calculated by assessing the demand and capacity of the country before the Syrian crisis. The food requirements (ton/year) based on the various sectors and food groups were calculated, which were used to determine the amount of food to feed Syria and investment projections on the food sector. For the enhancement of the agricultural productivity, shortcomings in the sector were identified. It is aimed to provide a guidance on which basic steps should be taken during the rehabilitation period by assessing the agricultural self-sufficiency of Syria. Key Words: Syria; Food; Agriculture; Food Industry; Economy