Syria's Wheat War: Drought Fuels Food Crisis For 16 Million

A worker rakes wheat purchased by the Kurdish authorities as it's unloaded at a silo in the northeast Syrian city of Qamishli (Credit: AFP)

Rival Syrian and Kurdish producers are scrambling for shrinking wheat harvests as the worst drought in decades follows a devastating war, pushing more than 16 million people toward food insecurity.

"The country has not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years," said Haya Abu Assaf, assistant to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Syria.