The wheat fields outside Seqalbia, near the Syrian city of Hama, should be golden and heavy with grain.
Instead, Maher Haddad's 40 dunums (10 acres) are dry and empty, barely yielding a third of their usual harvest.
This year was disastrous due to drought, said the 46-year-old farmer, reflecting on the land that cost him more to sow than it gave back.
His fields delivered only 190kg (418 lbs) of wheat per dunum - far below the 400-500kg he relies on in a normal year.
We haven't recovered what we spent on agriculture; we've lost money. I can't finance next year and I can't cover the cost of food and drink, Mr Haddad told the BBC.
With two teenage daughters to feed, he is now borrowing money from relatives to survive.
Mr Haddad's struggle is echoed across Syria, where the worst drought in 36 years has slashed wheat harvests by 40% and is pushing a country - where nearly 90% of the population already lives in poverty - to the brink of a wider food crisis.
A report from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates Syria will face a wheat shortfall of 2.73 million tonnes this year, the equivalent of annual dietary needs for 16.25 million people.
Without more food aid or the ability to import wheat, Syria's hunger crisis is set to worsen dramatically, warned Piro Tomaso Perri, FAO's senior programme officer for Syria.
Food insecurity could reach unprecedented levels by late 2025 into mid-2026, he said, noting that more than 14 million Syrians - six in 10 people - are already struggling to eat enough. Of those, 9.1 million face acute hunger, including 1.3 million in severe conditions, while 5.5 million risk sliding into crisis without urgent intervention.
The same report showed rainfall has dropped by nearly 70%, crippling 75% of Syria's rain-fed farmland.
This is the difference between families being able to stay in their communities or being forced to migrate, Mr Perri said. For urban households, it means rising bread prices. For rural families, it means the collapse of their livelihoods.
Farming families are already selling livestock to supplement lost incomes from wheat, reducing their daily meals, and there has been a rise in malnutrition rates among children and pregnant women.
Yet, the implications of the drought stretch far beyond the thousands of kilometers of barren farmlands.
Wheat is a staple crop in Syria, integral to bread and pasta, which should be low-cost foods. The lack of wheat supply has driven up food prices, making it increasingly difficult for families to afford basic necessities.
For 39-year-old widow Sanaa Mahamid, affording bread has become a massive struggle. With six children, her household relies on her sons' wages, but they are insufficient to cover basic expenses.
Sometimes we borrow money just to buy bread, she said.
Last year, a bag of bread cost Sanaa 500 Syrian pounds ($4.1), but now it is 4,500 pounds, leading to an expense of 9,000 pounds per day for her family's bread needs alone.
The crisis poses a significant challenge for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa as he attempts to navigate the nation’s recovery post-conflict.
While organizations like the UN World Food Programme (WFP) aim to provide assistance, aid officials emphasize that subsidies are a temporary measure. Long-term solutions must focus on enabling farmers to remain productive.
Amidst already existing economic landmines—such as smashed irrigation systems and rising fuel costs—Syria's agricultural future hangs in the balance, forcing millions to pray for rain.
Additional reporting by Lana Antaki in Damascus
