Dr. Layla Zibar
In light of the ongoing rapid developments and the urgent need to adopt a sustainable approach that addresses the root causes of the Syrian crisis, the NGO Justice for Life is undertaking a series of specialized studies aimed at articulating a comprehensive vision grounded in the lived realities of communities in the NES. This vision seeks to inform the development of policy frameworks and practical mechanisms that prevent the recurrence of marginalization during the phases of recovery and reconstruction, while also confronting its deep structural roots. This particular study focuses on a critical dimension of that vision: the risk of renewed marginalization within the agricultural sector and its interlinkages with food security and natural resource governance in the NES—a sector deemed vital in the post-conflict period. The study approaches this issue through a critical and analytical lens, situating it as a recurrent pattern observable across different geographical and historical contexts, wherein the neglect of agricultural justice has often led to the reproduction of structural inequalities. The study seeks to address the following central question:
How can both contemporary and historically rooted challenges facing the agricultural sector be addressed during the recovery and reconstruction phases in Northeast Syria (NES) in a manner that ensures redress for past marginalization and prevents its recurrence or reproduction?
This study, through a methodical analytical approach, examines the ways in which marginalization strategies have contributed to the emergence of the agricultural crisis in the NES. It investigates the impact of the conflict on reshaping land-power relations, while identifying key actors, current challenges, and existing opportunities that may enable the agricultural sector to serve as a driver for achieving spatial justice, as conceptualized by Edward Soja. Spatial justice is understood here as the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and socially valuable services—an approach that acknowledges the deeply rooted relationship between the geography of place and the social structures it both contains and reproduces. To conceptualize spatial justice in the Syrian context, the study’s theoretical framework draws on the literatures of development and conflict, intersecting with several central concepts, including:
- Slow violence, as conceptualized by Rob Nixon, is understood as harm that unfolds gradually and invisibly through systematic marginalization and developmental erosion. It contributes to the deepening of social inequalities, the weakening of local institutional capacities, and the intensification of environmental degradation. In the context of the NES, this form of violence is particularly evident in the long-term undermining of economic development—what Nixon refers to as a form of “delayed destruction” that is “neither spectacular nor instantaneous but incremental and accretive.”
- Infrastructural power, which highlights the dual nature of infrastructure as both an instrument of empowerment and a mechanism of subjugation. This concept draws attention to the political and distributive dimensions of state- and non-state infrastructure systems in conflict-affected regions.
- Demographic and social engineering, referring to deliberate strategies aimed at reshaping the demographic composition and social fabric of communities, often for purposes of political control, exclusion, or territorial dominance.
- Extractivism, defined as the intensive and often unreciprocated exploitation of natural and human resources—such as oil, minerals, land, and labor—within political and economic systems that reinforce power asymmetries. Scholars increasingly conceptualize extractivism not merely as an economic activity, but as a mode of organizing life and global social relations that produces structurally unequal exchanges between states, peoples, and environments.
- Uneven geographical development, a condition marked by spatial imbalances in the distribution of resources, infrastructure, and state services, driven by discriminatory development policies and extractive planning logics. This leads to entrenched disparities in access to opportunities and public goods, and to the failure of the state to adequately respond to the multidimensional needs of its population.
To ground the analysis empirically, the study relies on data collected through two in-depth focus group discussions conducted in the key cities of Al-Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, along with qualitative interviews with experts specializing in the Syrian agricultural sector. These data were analyzed in relation to a comparative review of diverse academic, media, and institutional sources. Through this analytical process, the study offers a range of illustrative examples that highlight the importance of integrating both political and economic dimensions when designing interventions in the agricultural sector, and of aligning these interventions with national and local priorities within the broader framework of reconstruction. Drawing on the research findings, the study puts forward a set of policy recommendations intended to support the recovery of the agricultural sector, strengthen food security, enhance the sustainability of development efforts, and prevent the recurrence of marginalization strategies—all while accounting for the complex local and international challenges surrounding the current transitional period.
To download the paper PDF The Recovery of the Agricultural Sector in Northeast Syria
