Syria has been hit by the worst drought in 40 years, endangering the livelihoods of one million people, the United Nations warned as it appealed for 20 million dollars in aid.

"Syria is currently experiencing a drought that is by far the worst over the past four decades and it is facing the risk of rising malnutrition," said Elisabeth Byrs, spokeswoman of the U.N.'s humanitarian bureau (OCHA).


Many of those in need are herders and subsistence farmers who have lost their livestock and crops after poor and erratic rainfall, an OCHA report said.

More than 100,000 herders have lost at least half their livestock, while 47,000 others lost half to 60 percent of their livestock, Byrs said.

The U.N. appeal to donors said "around 1 million people in north-eastern Syria are food insecure: their income from crops and livestock sales have been depleted and currently many resort to damaging coping mechanisms, such as decreased food intake, sale of agriculture and household assets, or migration."

It also noted a "marked increased in the prevalence of anaemia, malnutrition and diarrhoea especially among children less than five years of age as well as pregnant women by more than twofold compared to the same period in 2007".

The U.N. appeal would fund food and agricultural assistance for six months. The Syrian government has already distributed emergency aid to 29,000 families, the OCHA said, but added the needed assistance is beyond the government's capacity and resources.

"The situation is not expected to improve until the spring of 2009," Byrs said. This would depend if crops sown now mature then, providing rains do not fail for a second year in a row.

Syria, usually a major wheat exporter, resorted to the international wheat market in July for the first time in 15 years to compensate for one of its smallest harvests on record.

The country's national wheat production was at 47 percent of the previous season and 49 percent of the past 10-year average, while barley production was at 67 percent and 67 percent, respectively, according to the U.N.

Agencies