Farmers devastated by staggering decline of key crop: 'Dropped by half'

Farmers devastated by staggering decline of key crop: 'Dropped by half'

Olive farmers in Syria are facing one of their worst harvest seasons ever. Changing weather patterns and a prolonged conflict have affected crop yields, threatening food security and driving food prices up.  What's happening? Syria was a major global olive producer prior to the civil war that began in 2011.  According to the Arab Reform Initiative, the country had more than 79 million olive trees, producing about 1.1 million tons of olives. Dara…