Updates from the field
Holding the Land Through Drought
How cooperative farming helped Syrian Christians stay home
January 16, 2026 | by McKenzie Hood
In northeastern Syria, severe drought in 2025 forced many families to abandon their land. Twenty-five Christian farming families chose a different path. With support from Shai Fund, they remained on their ancestral land and continued farming during one of the most difficult agricultural seasons in recent years.
While surrounding farms experienced near-total crop failure, participating families were able to cultivate, harvest, and secure food and income through shared infrastructure, sustainable irrigation, and a cooperative farming model designed for crisis conditions.
In coordination with on the ground partners, Shai Fund provided:
- Support for 25 Christian farming families or 137 people to remain on their ancestral land, protecting livelihoods, identity, and community continuity.
- 3 solar-powered irrigation systems and a new water well ensuring reliable access to water while reducing fuel costs and long-term vulnerability.
- A shared agricultural infrastructure, including a plowing machine, lowered costs and enabled timely cultivation for 15 families during the critical planting window.
- A cooperative farming model strengthened collective decision-making, risk-sharing, and resilience—allowing families to adapt to drought conditions and avoid the total losses experienced by surrounding farmers.
- Preservation of food security and income, with wheat and barley harvests generating partial returns in a year when many neighboring farms produced nothing at all.
A Farmer’s Story
For years, a Christian farmer named Imad watched much of his family’s land fall into disuse. Without affordable access to equipment, he could only farm small portions of the field. His wife helped however she could, but the burden grew heavier each year.
Their two adult children began considering leaving the village altogether. Imad feared he might be the last in his family to work the land.
That changed when he joined the Christian farming cooperative created through this project. With access to a shared tractor and support from other families, Imad was able to cultivate his full land again for the first time in years.
“This project gave me back more than a field,” Imad says. “It gave me the chance to farm side by side with my son, just like I once did with my father.”
Though the drought reduced this year’s harvest, the cooperative lowered Imad’s costs and helped him avoid the total losses seen across the region.
“Even in dry soil, we plant with faith,” he says. “The real harvest is knowing our children will stay rooted in this land and in God.”
Building Resilience for the Future
Beyond food and income, the project helped preserve community identity by enabling Christian families to remain on land tied to their faith and history. While directly supporting 25 Christian families, the cooperative model also indirectly benefited Yezidi and Kurdish households through shared systems.
In a season defined by drought and loss, these families held their ground. Through cooperation, faith, and strategic support, they proved that even in crisis, staying rooted is possible.
