Al-Hayjana (Syria) (AFP)

As a child, Mohamed Saasaani accompanied his father to the pastures of Badiya to feed the family's sheep.

But this warring region of Syria is now infested with jihadists and mines, while fodder is too expensive.

The vast Badiya, a semi-desert area stretching from the outskirts of Damascus to the far east of the country, on the Iraqi border, has long been one of Syria's most popular grazing areas.

But the dangers have forced farmers to turn to industrial fodder, yet very expensive in a country in the midst of economic collapse, which has lost in a decade of war nearly half of its herd.

"We are afraid of going to death with our sheep," sums up Mohamed Saasaani, one of the most famous herders in the vicinity of Damascus, known under the name of Abu Kassem.

"We fear mines, jihadists and bandits," he adds, referring to the Islamic State group.

From now on, he takes his animals to graze in Al-Hayjana, near eastern Ghouta, considered the orchard of Damascus.

Sitting on a rock, he recounts the long wanderings of his childhood, when his father led hundreds of sheep to the gates of Palmyra, the pearl of the desert.

Today, he could lose a sheep there, on one of the mines which have already killed hundreds of people.

Since the fall of their "caliphate" in 2019, ISIS jihadists who have gone underground have used the area as a rear base to launch deadly attacks.

- Cattle melting -

Farmers are therefore turning to imported fodder, the prices of which have soared due to the fall of the Syrian pound.

Like many shepherds, Abu Kassem had to sell much of his cattle, reducing his flock of 500 sheep to less than a hundred.

Before the war, shepherds prided themselves on the size of their farms which were sufficient to meet the needs of the local market and even allowed for exports.

In 2010, the country had 15 million sheep and 10 million cows.

In ten years, these figures have been halved, told AFP Oussama Hammoud, head of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The reasons abound.

First there is "smuggling to neighboring countries, Syrian cattle being very popular," explains Abdel Razzak Wayha, head of a veterinary center.

"But also the drying up of water wells and years of drought with the decline in rainfall," he adds.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) also cites population movements caused by the fighting.

"When people are displaced, they cannot really take the animals with them, nor feed them on the way," said FAO representative in Syria, Mike Robson.

- Crucial forage -

In the countryside east of Damascus, Hassan Touhan erected the tent he used to pitch in the Badiya.

Nearby, he built a small enclosure to keep dozens of sheep and goats.

“Before, I used to take my sheep to the Iraqi border,” recalls this fifty-year-old breeder.

"But the war has hampered our movements (...) Now we are looking for security, rather than food for cattle," he adds.

To help pastoralists in the face of the crisis, FAO is providing them with fodder and veterinary services, while working to increase the herd through artificial insemination.

“Forage is the real key,” says Robson, welcoming the resumption of production in some areas.

Owner of a cattle farm near Damascus, Saleh Farrah was forced to sell his favorite, Saada, to have enough to feed the rest of the herd.

Formerly he used to graze the animals on his land.

But it is now struggling to irrigate them because of fuel and electricity shortages.

"Fodder alone represents nearly 75% of breeding costs," admits this 59-year-old farmer.

Unsurprisingly, this is reflected on the consumer's plate, he says: "Eating meat has become very expensive. The same with milk, yogurt and cheese."

© 2021 AFP