EU supported festival in Abra for rural products

The southern town of Abra village, located east of Saida, held a festival of olives to celebrate the closure of a landfill which was smartly transformed into an olive orchard. The event, sponsored and supported by the European Union, included an exhibition of agricultural goods, mainly olives, olive oil and the traditional mooneh, in addition to stalls for handicrafts and artisan products. During the festival Abra was formally declared as one of ten towns falling under the fair trade network for the marketing of rural products. Among associations partaking in the exhibition, were the Social Movement Association, the Women’s Cooperative in Abra and the Fair Trade Towns Committee. During the opening ceremony, Abra Mayor, Walid Mshantaf, maintained that the activity reflects the young generation’s steadfastness to their land. Concerning the eco-tourist project currently implemented by the municipality under the patronage of the Catholic Patriarchate, Mshantaf noted that nearly 300 thousand square meters were planted with some 7500 olives trees. (Daily Star, An Nahar, September 13 & 17, 2015)