As water fills channels once again in Al Suwyada reviving age-old agricultural practices, life returns to once parched fields that gradually take on a green hue.

Neglected and abandoned almost since the outset of the Syrian Revolution and nobody seemingly ready to undertake the task of renovating the water channels serving two villages, Stabilization Committee took the initiative working with the Jarabulus Local Council to clean the water channels implementing an agricultural project intended to improve output in the region.

So water is flowing once again this April 2018 in the Al Ghandoura countryside in the water channels in the Al Suwyada and Al Ghanama villages as it did well over a thousand years ago when the Romans built these water channels to irrigate fields nearby and encourage agricultural production.

The news won’t make headlines yet seen in a wider context in rural northern Aleppo it could have a considerable impact. The Stab Committee team is fully aware of the issue when one knows its insistence on food security. By renovating the channels, Stab Committee is enabling farmers to grow wheat to be transformed into flour and providing bread – a priority in terms of food security which is an essential element for stability in the region.

Putting Al Ghandoura and its Countryside on the Map.

Al Ghandoura countryside is in the northern Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria and Al Ghandoura a small town located between Al Rai and Jarabulus on the northern banks of the Sajur River about 4 kilometres south east of the Sajur Dam.

The Al Sajur River originates in Turkey and is the smallest of the three rivers that joins the Euphrates River on its western bank in Syria. Water from the Sajur River will be directed into the two canals and distributed to farmers.

Al Suwyada Water Channel to the left and Al Ghanama Channel on the right.

Improving Irrigation Improves Agricultural Output.

The water channels in both Al Suwyada and Al Ghanama were completely obstructed with weeds, rocks, earth and waste and required the intervention of bulldozers to clear the way to allow the water to flow freely as here in Al Ghanama.

The Al Suywada Channel in Al Ghandoura countryside

The Stab Committee team began with the Al Suwyada Water Channel which is three kilometers long and intended to irrigate 100 hectares farmland.

Deepening the Al Suwyada Water Channel east of Al Ghandoura

The local population willingly participated happy to see the water channels in their villages restored to their former state prior to the Revolution.

All hands were welcome – young and old.

The Al Ganama Water Channel in Al Ghandoura Countryside.

Al Ghanama water channel is 4 kms long and irrigates 65 hectares of farmland.

A part of Al Ghanama Water Canal before Stab team undertook its renovation.

Stabilization Committee’s motto: We Create Life

Take a few seconds and listen to the water gurgling on its way to bringing back life not only to the fields and livestock but to the vegetation birds and insects…

It took four days for the Stab Committee team to complete the Al Suywada channel and four more at Al Ghanama to cover the seven kilometers to accomplish the task. Now that the water is flowing once again thanks to Stab Committee, the Jarabulus Local Council will take over the maintenance.

They may not be very long channels yet they will permit farmers to become more autonomous in a region where their agricultural production includes vegetables, wheat, barley and olives. As concerns the wheat production, the mills required to transform it into flour are undergoing renovation.

Farmers will reap an immediate benefit from the water now available for their crops and fields will be greener for their livestock in a region where rainfall is limited in those long dry summer days and drought a real threat. Groundwater and wells the farmers counted on will be replenished and the surrounding environment namely trees and bushes will reinforce the banks helping to maintain them in place.

Thanks to Moetaz Abo Ryad, the Stab Committee team and the Jarabulus Local Council, the Al Ghandoura countryside can count on its newly renovated water channels to boost its agricultural output and become more autonomous. Farmers will certainly feel more reassured too with a much more reliable source of water in the future.

As the Jarabulus Local Council https://twitter.com/majlisjarablus worked together with Stabilization Committee https://twitter.com/StabCommittee to renovate the water channels they produced a document on this issue which you can consult here:

المجلس المحلي لمدينة جرابلس وريفها لجنة اعادة الاستقرار المجلس المحلي لمدينة جرابلس وريفها وبدعم من لجنة إعادة الاستقرار وضمن إطار دعم المشاريع الزراعية تم الانتهاء من تعزيل ساقيتين بريف الغندورة ساقية قرية السويدة بطول ٣ كم وتروي حوالي ١٠٠ هكتار من الأراضي

ساقية قرية غنمة طولها ٤ كم وتروي حوالي ٦٥ هكتار من الأراضي الزراعية من خلال تعزيل السواقي سوف تجري المياه فيها والتي مصدرها نهر الساجور ومنه يتم ري جميع الأراضي على اطراف السواقي بالإضافة لدعم المياه الجوفية والابار في المنطقة وكذلك تحسين المنتجات الزراعية الدورية من خضروات وغيرها الفيديو

Here is the translation of the Jarabulus Local Council’s announcement of the completion of the two canals followed by a video with Moetaz Abo Ryad from Stab Committee overseeing the project as it advanced.



The Jarabulus Local Council and its countryside working in conjunction with Stabilization Committee April 15, 2018

The Local Council of the City of Jarabulus and its countryside, with the support of the Stabilization Committee and within the framework of support for agricultural projects, have finished two water canals. In Al Ghandoura countryside, in the village of Al Suywayda, the canal is 3 km long and will irrigate about 100 hectares of land and in Al Ghanama there is a 4-kilometer-long water canal irrigating about 65 hectares of land

Thanks to these two canals, water originating in the Sajur River will be distributed to all the land bordering the streams which will now be irrigated regularly. The canals will provide water in addition to support from groundwater and wells in the region as well as improving the periodic agricultural products of vegetables and other crops.



The renovation of the two canals in the Al Ghandoura countryside followed earlier actions in the area by Stabilization Committee. In March 2017, Stab Committee provided a tractor and trailer within a Waste Management project including operational support.

StabCommitte also provided a 110KVA genset to the Jarabulus Local Council for the Al Ghandoura water pumping station allowing them to provide drinking water to the population in July 2017.

Far from the chaos elsewhere in Syria, Stabilization Committee is ensuring stability in liberated areas in northern and eastern Aleppo as it implements its projects creating a vibrant civil society.

My thanks to Moetaz Abo Ryad https://twitter.com/moetaz89 for his maps, photos, videos and advice and to https://twitter.com/EngNajjouma Deputy Head of Stabilization Committee Mohammed Najjouma for his photos and advice too.