Protecting livestock. Protecting lives.

By early afternoon in July, the temperature in Gharah village, Al-Hasakeh governorate, has climbed above 45°C. Abdullah Abed Abdullah walks on, seemingly unfazed, guiding his flock across the vast steppe his family has called home for generations. 

"After my family, my sheep are the most important thing in my life," he says 

The flock is the family's only source of food and income. Years of conflict, severe drought and soaring feed prices have threatened everything it provides. 

"Last year, six of our ten newborn lambs died because we couldn't afford feed," Abdullah recalls. "We were surviving on bread." 

Each lamb lost meant less milk for the family, fewer animals to replenish the flock and increasing pressure to sacrifice the very assets they depended on to survive. 

In the nearby village of Burg El-Jebour, Aminah Ismail faces the same crisis. She returned from displacement to find her home destroyed, and soon after, her husband passed away.  

^{Aminah Ismail, a former internally displaced person and single mother of three, stands beside the ruins of her former home in Burg El-Jebour village, Al-Hasakeh governorate. Emergency distribution of animal feed from FAO, with SHF's support, helped her keep her flock alive through one of the hardest periods her family has faced. ©FAO/Mazen Haffar.} 

"From that day, I became the only person my children could depend on," she says. 

Today, her sheep are all she has to support her children. 

"Last year, several of my sheep died from hunger," she says. "I don't want to relive this tragedy." 

For families like Abdullah's and Aminah's, help arrived at a critical moment. 

With support from SHF, FAO provided 500 kg of supplementary animal feed to each of 11 072 livestock-keeping households (66 400 people) across Al-Hasakeh, Ar-Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor, helping families protect the productive assets they depend on for food security and livelihoods. 

For Abdullah, the difference was immediate. 

"Without the feed, my sheep would have perished," he says. "The feed helped the ewes produce milk, giving the newborn lambs a chance to survive." 

^{Abdullah feeds his sheep at his home in Gharah village, Al-Hasakeh governorate. The animal feed he received from FAO, with SHF's support, helped protect his family's only source of food and income. ©FAO/Mazen Haffar.}

For Aminah, the assistance reduced the pressure to make painful choices. 

"Before the feed arrived, I was spending the little money I had on feed just to keep my sheep alive," she says. "The assistance meant I could protect my flock without sacrificing my children’s needs." 



^{Aminah stands with her flock at her home in Burg El-Jebour village. The emergency supplementary animal feed she received from FAO, with SHF's support, helped keep her sheep healthy and gave her renewed hope for her family's future. ©FAO/Mazen Haffar.}

Both know the crisis is not over. 

"The feed helped us through this difficult period," Abdullah says. "But all other livestock keepers in our village are facing the same challenges and still need this support." 

Aminah believes feed is only part of what families need. 

"Feed protects our sheep today," she says. "But we also need veterinary medicines and vaccinations to keep them healthy in the months ahead." 

For Abdullah and Aminah, as for thousands of families across northeast Syria, survival depends on the health of their flock. Through this emergency intervention, made possible by SHF’s support, families are protecting the livestock assets that sustain their food security and livelihoods.