Storage and Milling Support to the National Wheat Programme

In the next 12 months, the Syrian population will face major problems related to food security. As of June 2014, there is a concrete risk that harvested wheat is bought by traders that later on speculate on its price (thus causing rapid price fluctuations). Without any grain reserves, there is a serious risk that food insecurity may lead to acute malnutrition, or even starvation, and spread of diseases with fatal consequences.

This project addresses this problem at two levels:

• first, by providing support to the Syrian Public Establishment for Grain (SPEG) to ensure proper storage conditions for wheat and,
• second, by supporting the SPEG to ensure sufficient milling capacity.

In particular, the main activities to be implemented can be summarized as follows:

• Procurement of special sheets to be used as wheat covers;
• Procurement of equipment for 24 portable laboratories to analyze wheat for commercial purposes (humidity, weight/liter, scales, samplers, protein content, etc.); and,
• Procurement of four grain (wheat) mills to secure availability of flour for household use and the bakeries.

Beneficiaries include approximately two million Syrians. These beneficiaries will further benefit due to the availability of flour (and hence lower prices for bread and other wheat-dependent food staples) for all the bakeries within the target areas.

The financing agreement for this project was signed in mid-August 2014, and it is expected to be completed by August 2015. For further information on this project see:

http://www.srtfund.org/articles/50_progress-made-in-support-of-efforts-to-achieve-food-security-in-syria

http://www.srtfund.org/articles/69_the-srtf-delivers-laboratory-equipment-in-support-of-the-food-security-sector-in-syria

http://www.srtfund.org/articles/72_the-srtf-delivers-the-first-wheat-mill-in-support-of-the-food-security-sector-in-syria

http://www.srtfund.org/articles/79_the-srtf-delivers-the-second-wheat-mill-in-support-of-the-food-security-sector-in-syria

http://www.srtfund.org/articles/94_the-srtf-completes-its-first-shipment-to-enhance-food-security-in-the-south-of-syria