Aleppo food prices soar

HUNGRY CITY: Pro-revolution Aleppo Media Center posted this montage of man on the street interviews about the high price of food in Syria’s most populous city.

“The price of sugar, rice, lentils, bulgur, oil, soap, and everything is on fire,” says one citizen, with others confirming tremendous cost increases coinciding with the Ramadan holiday.

“Everything is terribly expensive, I can’t wrap my head around it,” says one senior citizen.

 A joint report by the World Food Program and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization published earlier this month estimates some 4 million Syrians are unable to meet their nutritional needs due to the decline in agricultural production caused by the conflict.

International observers conducted a mission to Syria between May and June finding, “massive population displacement, disruption of agricultural production, unemployment, economic sanctions, currency depreciation and high food and fuel prices [that] have all damaged the ability of families in Syria to meet their food needs.” The report states that the price of flour more than doubled between 2011 and 2013.

The World Food Program’s revised Syrian Humanitarian Assistance Response requirements for its operations inside Syria until the end of 2013 now total $490 million.

Meanwhile state-run news agency SANA acknowledged the food crisis in Aleppo Tuesday as it covered another UN delegation visiting government-controlled parts of the province.

“A humanitarian aid convoy of 14 trucks, loaded with food stuffs and medicine, accompanied the delegation,” the agency reported. Video courtesy of AMC.