Dueling with drought: How can Daraa farmers adapt to a changing climate?

PARIS — Like many Daraa farmers, Abu Khaldoun is trying something different. He plans to replace half the area he usually plants with summer vegetables with crops that consume less water and are easier to care for, such as olives, grapes and pistachios.

The final straw was losing around $30,000 this year on his tomato crop, which suffered partial pest damage, the farmer told Syria Direct. It was his second year of losses in a row. 

Abu Khaldoun has been farming for more than 25 years, sowing a succession of seasonal crops on his land year-round. Now in his fifties, in recent years he finds “the summer and fall seasons have become unprofitable, the production cost high compared to low prices on the market.” 

The change, he believes, is downstream from the impacts of a changing climate in southern Syria: everything from “rising temperatures and new agricultural pests and diseases to groundwater sinking deeper below the surface.”

Historically, Syria’s southern Houran region—a fertile plain covering Daraa, Quneitra and parts of Suwayda that is one of the country’s most important agricultural areas—was famed for its wheat. It was known as the “granary of Rome,” to which its grain flowed. Later, under the Ottoman Empire, Hourani wheat was transported to Anatolia, Astana and Damascus. But the late 1990s brought a change to the Houran’s fields. New crops began to dominate—notably tomatoes, watermelons and summer vegetables. 

These leafy newcomers had something in common: they needed more water. 

In 2025, Syria faces its most severe drought in more than 60 years. Rain-fed crops have been most severely damaged, while irrigated crops have fared somewhat better. Bone-dry conditions deepen drinking water shortages and supply problems across the country. In Daraa, just 151 millimeters of rain fell so far this year, down from 293.5 millimeters in 2024. 

For farmers on the frontline, especially in southern Syria, the question is increasingly how they can adapt to the country’s shifting water situation and climate. In the Houran, some see an answer in a return to traditional crops such as wheat and barley. Others see promise in new strategic crops that use little water and offer high economic returns. 

Strategic crops

“When my father died, his last wish was that we would not grow tomatoes and cucumbers on the land,” Muawiya al-Zoubi told Syria Direct from the eastern Daraa countryside. Today, al-Zoubi runs the vineyard his father established in 2003, which also includes olive, pomegranate and peach trees.

“Since ancient times, the Houran has been a land of wheat and olives. These are the indigenous, deeply rooted crops. In the 1990s, Daraa farmers started to bring in irrigation networks from Jordan and other areas, and new crops appeared that deplete the area’s water,” al-Zoubi said. “Greed and the desire for a quick profit took hold of farmers’ minds. Farming became more like a game of chance: a farmer invests huge sums of money, then waits for their luck—either a fast profit or a heavy loss.” 

In 2013, the war turned al-Zoubi’s trees and vines into “firewood,” when they were cut down and used for fuel and heating. In 2021, he set about bringing it back to life, bringing in 11 varieties of grape vines from Lebanon and planting olive and pomegranate trees to stand as a “fence” around his land. 

Read more: Under the axe: The fall of Daraa’s forests and fruit trees

In the process, al-Zoubi was careful to choose varieties that would not need large amounts of water. Even so, he now finds himself searching once more for drought-resistant crops. He is currently preparing 30 dunams of land to grow prickly pear cactus fruit.

Prickly pear “produces a high yield, twice a year, and does not consume large amounts of water,” not to mention that it is classified for “export,” al-Zoubi said. “Grapes are a good and profitable crop, but they require cool winters and specific temperatures—conditions that are no longer often met in our area due to drought and climate change.” 

While this year’s grape harvest “was good,” the farmer is not sure how viable it will be in the coming years, while “cacti are more resistant.” 

“Many farmers, especially in the eastern countryside” have turned to “planting cacti and pistachio trees, because they do not need much water,” an agricultural engineer at the Daraa Agriculture Directorate told Syria Direct on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the media. The same goes for “apricot trees and varieties of stone fruits that produce early, in May, and therefore do not consume a lot of water.” 

The directorate has also noted “an increase in planting pomegranates and grapes in the western regions of the province, as well as winter crops such as beans, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and turnips,” he added.

Al-Zoubi, for his part, encouraged other farmers to “return to the authentic, traditional crops in the Houran–wheat and olives, the strategic crops—or others that do not drain water.” He stressed the need to “organize the cultivation of tomatoes, watermelons and vegetables under government oversight, so farmers profit but do not drain our water resources.” 

The area and number of irrigated trees in Daraa province fell by half between 2011 and 2022, while the area and number of rain-fed trees fell by 20 percent. Overall olive production declined by nearly a quarter over the same period. (Syria Direct)

Thirsty crops

“Tree crops were not known in the Houran, which was historically an important center for wheat cultivation,” explained environmental expert Mwaffak Chikhali, a consultant at Syria’s Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the general manager of environmental consulting firm Earth Link and Advance Resources Development (ELARD). 

Then, several decades ago, “Daraa entered a rapid race to plant a variety of water-intensive summer crops—notably tomatoes and watermelons—alongside the widespread introduction of olive tree cultivation,” he added. 

For tomatoes and watermelons, “since their fruits are more than 90 percent water, [producing] one kilogram takes between 35 and 45 liters of water,” Chikhali explained. And each kilogram, due to high production, brings little profit: 1,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) (less than $0.10), for watermelon, and around SYP 3,000 ($0.30) for tomatoes.

That does not mean farmers have to stop growing thirsty summer crops—such as tomatoes, watermelons, eggplants and peppers—altogether, however. “Rationalizing their cultivation, using modern irrigation systems and adjusting watering according to the plant’s needs can reduce water depletion,” the agricultural engineer said. “They do not need to be completely replaced, but an agricultural plan needs to be implemented.” directorate guy

“If we have a well that is three inches [in diameter], it should only irrigate 50 dunams, while taking into account the number of irrigation hours [needed] per dunam of tomatoes or any other summer crop,” he explained. Applying this method makes “the most water-intensive crops—vegetables—viable.” 

Summer vegetables are not the only crops reliant on irrigation in an increasingly water-poor area. “Olive farming was widely introduced to the Houran about 40 years ago, at the same time that citrus cultivation spread on the Syrian coast at the expense of olives,” Chikhali said. The shift was “the start of the disaster, because replacing part of the rain-fed olive cultivation on the coast with irrigated citrus, while expanding irrigated olives in Daraa, Suwayda, eastern Homs and other areas, multiplied the water use of two irrigated agricultures in Daraa.” 

Olives are an autumn crop that needs regular watering throughout the summer to ripen for picking. Due to declining water resources in Daraa and Suwayda—both of which sit on the same water basin—the number of olive trees and annual production has fallen in both provinces, Chikhali said. 

“The use of modern irrigation technology, drip irrigation, significantly saves water consumption, because olives need to be watered once a month in the winter and twice a month in the summer,” the agricultural engineer said.

In contrast to Daraa province, Suwayda saw the total land area planted with irrigated and rain-fed olive trees increase between 2011 and 2022, while the number of rain-fed olive trees decreased slightly and production fell by 40 percent. (Syria Direct)

Traditional irrigation methods drain water

Continuing to cultivate water-hungry crops cuts into the available drinking water for the population, as “the groundwater and surface water basin is one and the same,” Chikhali said. This can create an overlap or “conflict between the two uses.” 

“A plant generally uses less than 10 percent of the water for its physiological processes. The rest is distributed between evaporation on the surface of the soil and the plant and the physical transpiration process carried out by the plant,” he said. Traditional irrigation methods “put large amounts of water on the surface of the soil, which will not benefit the crop itself but be lost in the form of evaporation or use by non-agricultural plants.” 

“Scientific studies and applied research indicate that modern irrigation methods are as much as 60 percent more efficient in water use than traditional methods, especially in field crops such as wheat and fruit trees,” Chikhali said.

Similarly, the agricultural engineer noted that “the irrigation methods used by Daraa farmers drain water and resources, especially with the indiscriminate use of solar power to operate wells without understanding, such that the groundwater is being depleted.” However, he added, “if drip irrigation systems were implemented, irrigation networks adjusted and the water needs of each plant identified, we could reduce water depletion.” 

Read more: Drought, drilling, diversion: Daraa’s deepening water crisis

In Daraa, provincial officials seek to “help farmers adapt to the current conditions through awareness-raising and guidance campaigns aimed at building crops that require less water and energy,” said Ahed al-Zoubi, Director of Agriculture in Daraa. The directorate is also working with international organizations to “support drought-affected farmers.” 

Farmers’ losses in Daraa last season amounted to up to 100 percent of rain-fed crops and 30 percent of irrigated crops, al-Zoubi noted. 

Attempting adaptation

Al-Zoubi showed Syria Direct a circular the directorate published in early September, calling on farmers to “abide by the agricultural production plan and not exceed approved areas for the 2025-2026 season in order to preserve water resources, combat drought and achieve stable agricultural production that prevents price fluctuations and loss due to excess production.” It also called on farmers to turn to “crops with lower water requirements, and high-yield varieties.”

He called on farmers to grow wheat, barley, legumes, potatoes, onions, garlic and other vegetables that consume less water. However, there is “no ban on any crop, but it is not advised to grow large areas of tomatoes and vegetables with high water consumption.” 

The agricultural engineer also underscored the need to adhere to the directorate’s plan, which he says “ensures benefit to farms and does not drain water resources.”

“The plan relies on agricultural diversity, which is the only way out for agriculture from the drought situation the country is going through,” he added. “The focus should be on winter crops and vegetables, because they consume less water, while limiting areas planted with summer vegetables.” 

Without sticking to the plan and making changes, “the Houran will be thirsty, and its land will become almost desert-like by 2030,” the engineer concluded. 

This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.