A communalist farming co-operative in the self-governing neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsûd) in Aleppo. Four families collectively farm half a hectare of land. The families bring the agricultural products to the market at a price appropriate to the production and the purchasing power of the people and share the income among themselves. They started farming by cleaning up a piece of land that had been rendered unusable by the war and then began planting. Four families live from this project, who say they are not interested in making a profit.
They produce in every season. In summer they harvest vegetables, in winter onions and garlic. Half of the hectare is green all year round. They bring the products to the market at a reasonable price. For example, they have sold onions that reach a market price of 400 Syrian Lira (SYP) per kilo for 200 SYP. Due to the success of the co-operative, production has now been expanded to include livestock farming. The families are working on the further development of their project and with 52 sheep they also began to practice animal husbandry according to the communalist model. At the moment the co-operative has 81 sheep and 48 lambs. It now also sells animal products such as cheese, yoghurt and milk at low prices.
