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Bakifa Agricultural Coop: road building, wheat cultivation, training of olive farmers

4-1-2021

As part of its initiative to support agriculture during the year 2020, the Agricultural Cooperative in Bakifa launched a road construction project sponsored and funded by the municipality to help link a one million square meters of wasteland with a network of dirt roads in Malloul area, which enabled local farmers to reclaim and use their land. It also completed the rehabilitation of an agricultural pond for irrigation purposes. In addition, the Coop kicked off a wheat cultivation plan aimed for the production of nearly 100 tons of village wheat, and purchased special rails to grow the wheat for a symbolic price (LBP 30,000). The same price was agreed for one hour of tractor plowing, including the maintenance of the vehicle at the end of the season. The Agricultural Cooperative, in collaboration with the municipality, equipped as well a storage area for its medicines and agricultural machinery, and distributed about 1000 pine and olive trees in the period between the months of February and March of last year. It also signed a contract with Fair Trade Lebanon to train olive growers on ways to improve the quality of production and marketing of the crop, with the first workshop starting early 2021 and accommodating 30 persons. Special olive cultivation machinery at USD 5,000 will also be provided, under the terms of the contract. As for the upcoming project, it involves the set-up of an oil lab that manufactures a special brand of olive oil, in cooperation with Environment for Life and funding by the EU. (Al Diyar, December 28, 2020)

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Public and civic initiatives to develop agriculture

29-12-2020

As part of relentless efforts to boost agriculture in Lebanon, the caretaker minister of agriculture, Abbas Mortada, signed on December 18, a memorandum of cooperation with Abdallah Wardat, the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO representative in Lebanon. Mortada stressed the need to develop the sector with the help of international agencies, namely the World Food Program. He said agriculture is the main productive sector that can improve food security and contribute to the provision of food at acceptable prices, in light of the economic crisis and the increasing exchange rate of the US dollar that negatively impact the import of food and the citizen’s purchasing power. Meanwhile, the international humanitarian organization, Concern Worldwide, and in cooperation with Hweish Municipality, Akkar, launched last Saturday, an agricultural initiative in the area. The project, funded by the US State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM), aims to help farmers invent an alternative cultivation of the Oreganum syriacum kind of thyme. Also, in the Shouf town of Mresti, the project ‘The provision of irrigation water and crop cultivation using advanced technology’ was launched in partnership with the Italian OIKOS foundation, the University of Toronto and the Shouf Cedar Nature Reserve, and with funding by the EU. The project aims to rehabilitate three mountain ponds in the town with modern irrigation networks, in addition to improving farmers’ water management capacities and raising awareness on the rational use of water in the Reserve’s environs. (Al Diyar, December 19, 21, 27, 2020)

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Flower and seedlings sector in crisis, farmers shift to vegetables

23-12-2020

In its issue of today, Al Akhbar drew attention to the flower and seedlings industry which is crumbling as a result of the economic crisis in Lebanon, pointing out that the sector which has once gained a competitive edge in foreign markets is now going downhill. Al Akhbar spoke to Elias Mansour, head of the flower sector at the Lebanese Farmers Association, who pointed to a decline to 3% - 4% in the number of flower growers who once represented 10% to 15% of the total number of farmers in the country before the economic and financial collapse. Many of them have switched to planting vegetables, namely tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants, due to their high demand. In turn, Joseph Abu Zeid, former head of the flower and seedlings sector, estimated the number of people working in the sector at nearly 15,000 households. Other participants in the sector grieved that the festive Christmas and holiday season has not yet begun, pointing to a shy number of customers and meager sales. The weddings season which used to be promising is now hitting the skids, for newly-wed couples opted to cut expenses, putting to good use the coronavirus enforced lockdown. Prosperous people are now more discerning about how they spend their money and tend to become super savers, Al Akhbar wrote. (Al Akhbar, December 19, 2020)

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Agriculture in 2020: Hard luck, losses and disasters

21-12-2020

The head of the Beqaa Farmers Association, Ibrahim Tarshishi, disclosed in an interview with Al Markaziya portal that 2020 was a year of hard luck for Lebanese farmers due to the sequential losses that led to a considerable decline in the income of sector workers. The rise in prices of some agricultural products, Tarshishi said, did not benefit farmers, but a few of them, as the majority were not fortunate to plant a variety of crops. This year registered a record low in export, he grieved, criticizing the government’s irresponsible policy which fostered import and obstructed export activity. As for the subsidy policy, which specifically targeted fodder crops, Tarshishi said it was unserviceable to the agricultural sector, adding, money was squandered uselessly, while not buttressing domestic production. Tarshishi slammed the suspension of negotiations between Lebanon and neighboring Syria aimed to ease taxes on Lebanese trucks. He urged the forthcoming government to direct funds to the ministry of agriculture only, cautioning against merging them with other sectors. The agriculture ministry, he maintained, should be a sovereign one that which gives the sector worth attention, especially that agriculture sustains food security, boosts local production and upholds Lebanon’s position on the Middle East agricultural map. Finally, Tarshishi hoped Lebanon politicians ditch their narrow interests and form a government that works to strengthen ties with Arab states in order to keep their markets open for made-in-Lebanon goods, as well as prioritize export, regulate subsidies with focus on fertilizers, seeds and medicines, and halt the import of any locally-grown products. (Al Diyar, December 21, 2020)

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Olive producers call for protection and settlement of entitlements

1-12-2020

On the occasion of the World Olive Day which falls on November 26, the gathering of representative bodies of the oil sector in Lebanon, submitted to officials a series of demands to save the industry. Most prominent of these demands were the following: Legal prosecution of the owners of cement factories in Kura for destroying olive orchards, farmers livelihoods; end to subsidies for the export of olive oil which are being given exclusively to IDAL affiliated traders, and their redirection directly to olive growers; adoption of a more efficient mechanism for curbing imports of olives and olive oil through stricter border control; exclusion of olive oil and olives from all Arab and European free trade agreements, and finally, the introduction of tougher protection measures of the olive crops against harmful bacteria. The Gathering statement also demanded the resumption of payments to farmers who delivered their harvests to the Lebanese Army in 2013, and who still have not been paid despite repeated cabinet decisions. Furthermore, the statement called for the saking of all public department officials who are responsible for the presnt crisis affecting the sector, as well as for an end to all foreign interference in the olive sector. (Al Diyar, November 28, 2020)

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Crisis hits flower and seedlings trade, 10,000 families at risk

19-11-2020

In its issue of today, Al Diyar drew attention to the flower and seedling industry which has been directly hit by the consecutive economic, financial, climate and health related crises thus putting some 10,000 families at risk. The difficulties the sector faces, the newspaper wrote, started last year with the wild storms that wreaked havoc thus incurring huge losses on the beds of roses. The dollar shortage and the devaluation of the Lebanese pound also triggered a jump in the prices of raw material, agricultural tools, fertilizers and medicines. Then came the coronavirus pandemic which shattered all hopes of a booming season anticipated by flower growers. On the subject, Al Diyar spoke to the head of the Syndicate of Flower Cultivators in Lebanon, Elias Kamel, who disclosed that flower sales in the country reached annually between USD 17 million and USD 21 million, but regrettably, it dropped significantly as a result of the economic collapse. Many farmers, he explained, have destroyed their crops during the last Christmas with losses amounting to nearly LBP 2 billion. Workers in the sector sold only 15% to 18% of their produce, Kamel said. He criticized the Covid-19 enforced lockdown decision taken by the caretaker government, pointing to its negative impact on marketing local production. Flower growers make a living from selling their harvest in the local market which has now become impossible. The flower industry is totally marginalized, even though it is a productive rather than a consumer one. (Al Diyar, November 19, 2020)

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Public, Civic initiatives to support farmers in Baalbaq-Hermel, Akkar and Diman

18-11-2020

The Food and Agriculture Organization in Lebanon (FAO), announced that, during the period from August to October 2020, and in cooperation with the Lebanese ministry of agriculture, it distributed vouchers to farmers to purchase agricultural inputs and tools, benefiting one thousand households (around 5,000 people) in the Akkar and Baalbek-Hermel areas. This comes as part of the FAO emergency needs assessment project, funded by the Government of Belgium, in collaboration with the ministry of agriculture. The said project aims to provide assistance to highly vulnerable farmers affected by the severe financial and economic crises. On the other hand, a ton of garlic seeds were distributed yesterday to farmers in the Dimane-Wadi Qannoubin area, as part of the Agricultural Cooperation Program within the Patriarchate Relief Plan. The latter, to recall, is funded by the Maronite Mutual Fund, Caritas-Al Jibeh, Bsherri, and the Maronites Rally for Lebanon, in coordination with the League of Qannubin for Missions and Heritage and the Antonine Nuns, and the collaboration of the Patriarchate See in Diman. The country-wide plan seeks to alleviate the current living and economic conditions through sustainable development programs, not just emergency humanitarian aid, while focusing on a number of sectors, mainly, agriculture, livestock, agricultural processing, milk and dairy products, as well as distillation of medicinal and aromatic herbs. (Al Diyar, November 14, 18, 202)

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E-workshop in Saida on soap making

17-11-2020

The “Art” space, Saida, South Lebanon, will be organizing on November 23 a virtual workshop on soap making for those wishing to learn how to make soap using natural materials and oils preparing them to personally make their own soap. The 2-hour event will start at 5 pm and will be limited to 7 persons. For more inquiries, kindly call: 76-833367. Recalling, that “Fan” or “Art” space is reportedly “a home for the arts that provide opportunities for learning painting, music, photography, theater and other arts.” And this specific event comes in the context of activities that have now moved to the virtual world in line with the coronavirus-enforced restrictions. (Al Akhbar, November 17, 2020)

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Virtual exhibition of Lebanese food in US

16-11-2020

The Embassy of Lebanon in Washington DC, organized on November 12, the first virtual exhibition for Lebanese food industries in the US, 2020. The 3-hour event which saw the participation of 30 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Lebanon, attracted around 1000 guests. During the opening session panel, Lebanese Ambassador to the US, Gabriel Issa, spoke about the role of the embassy in marketing made-in-Lebanon products and increasing collaboration in all fields between the two nations. Issa underlined the need for diversity in the US markets given the vast size and different conditions for promotion there. Discussion also touched on existing prospects that allow the entry of food products together with the mechanism to ease conditions to this effect and facilitate communication between American and Lebanese food manufacturers. The online event also presented an opportunity for Lebanese food manufacturers to network with and hold sideline talks with their American counterparts on the best strategies and practices to introduce Lebanese goods into the US markets. (For a full review of the participating Lebanese brands, kindly refer to the link below: https://lebaneseusfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/LFS_Brochure.pdf)

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Regie’s classification of tobacco farmers

11-11-2020

In response to inquiries by tobacco growers on the newly-enforced measures by the Regie pigeon-holing farmers as active or non-active and the effect thereon on obtaining licenses, the head of the Syndicate of Tobacco and Tombac Growers in the North, Abdel Hamid Sakr, confirmed on November 8, that the above procedure does not involve prices or licenses. It is related only to the agricultural medicines active tobacco growers benefit from, Sakr clarified. It also gives an edge to the active farmer over the so-called non-active one in terms of selling the crop during the agreed period, he added. (Al Diyar, November 9, 2020)

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