Refugee Week 2019: Take the Ration Challenge and support Syrian refugees

Cambridge Sustainable Food - Blog

Whether or not climate change sparked the Syrian Civil war, as claimed by many academics, it will undoubtedly continue to impact numbers of conflict-related climate events in the coming years. 

Syria’s political difficulties and the ongoing civil war are the result of complex interrelated factors. However,  It has been suggested that water and climatic conditions were influential because of the role they played in the deterioration of Syria’s economic conditions. In particular, the years preceding the Syrian refugee crisis were characterized by a severe drought that reduced farm output and led to economic instability, resource scarcity (including food) and social upheaval. 

Separating out the influences of climate change from general social instability may be impossible, because they are intimately linked. However, we do know that in camps such as those in Jordan,  food insecurity is considerable. Among Syrian refugees in Jordan a study using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale ( FIES) found that the moderate and severe rate of food insecurity was 40 per cent, while the severe rate was 18 per cent. 

Food is a universal right, but one that is often transposed into meagre, repetitive, keep-you-alive rations in camps where people can be housed for years.

This Refugee Week (16th-23rd May), could you challenge yourself to survive on the same food rations as a Syrian refugee? Then join the Ration Challenge to highlight the plight of Syrian Refugees and show your support. For more details and how to register for your ration pack, click here.