The Agricultural Committee of the North Syrian Region of Shehba is expanding its work to care for the more than 100,000 internally displaced persons from Afrin. The committee identified unused arable land and, organised by the grassroots councils, began planting tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, onions and potatoes on many hectares of land. The crops will be used to expand the supply of food for the internally displaced persons from Afrin. The number of IDPs in Shehba significantly exceeds the region's population of 90,000.

Mihemed al-Wasi from the agriculture committee says: "We started the project to meet the population's need for vegetables. In this way we were able to turn many hectares of land in our canton into a vegetable garden. We also planted many fruit trees, including figs, olives and grapes. We have also grown tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, onions, potatoes and similar vegetables. The communes have helped us a lot. The people from Afrin work in the gardens. They work six hours a day. As the agricultural committee, we pay them wages accordingly."

Agriculture in the region takes place despite massive Turkish artillery attacks and permanent threat of war.

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