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 2.73m 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 ten people - are already struggling to eat enough. Of those, 9.1 million face acute hunger, including 1.3 million in severe conditions.
The same report showed rainfall has dropped by nearly 70%, crippling 75% of Syria's rain-fed farmland.
For 39-year-old widow Sanaa Mahamid, affording bread has become a massive struggle.
With six children between the ages of nine and 20, she relies on the wages of two sons, but their salaries are not enough to cover the family's basic expenses.
Sometimes we borrow money just to buy bread, she said.
Last year, a bag of bread cost Sanna 500 Syrian pounds ($4.1); now it costs 4,500 pounds.
The crisis is a challenge for interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, as his administration works to rebuild Syria in the aftermath of the 14-year conflict and the removal of former leader Bashar al-Assad.
International agencies, like the UN World Food Programme (WFP), are rushing to provide bread subsidies for those at risk of severe food insecurity. But aid officials warn that subsidies are only a temporary fix.
Dr. Ali Aloush, agriculture director for the Deir al-Zour region, noted that the high price of fuel and power cuts mean water pumps are out of reach, and many growers are already burdened with debt.
Ultimately, for millions of Syrians across the country, there is only one thing to do in the coming months: pray for rain.
