News updates

The Hospitality Services CEO Jumana Damous Salameh announced the launching of the fifth edition of the Beirut Cooking Festival and the Salon Du Chocolat at Biel Complex between November 12 and 14. The projected event will include a series of cooking activities and workshops with a number of culinary professionals, etiquette experts and wine and spirits connoisseurs. “Amidst the difficult situation in our region, we are pleased to unite people around a common craving, which is our passion for food and our love for our land,” Salameh boasted, hailing the growing success of the festivities over the past years. (Al Mustaqbal, October 19, 2015) 

 

The Lebanese Businesspeople Association headed by Fouad Mkahal signed yesterday an agreement of partnership with the Lebanese League for Women in Business led by Asmahan Zein to promote cooperation between the two parties in the presence of a crowd of concerned figures. The partnership plans to hold regular meetings, conferences or seminars on present-day issues, in addition to organizing training workshops for entrepreneurs and business owners. These aim to facilitate the exchange of expertise and information; develop projects for restructuring the private and public sectors; open up new markets for the export of made-in-Lebanon goods and skills and finally, propose draft legislations mostly needed by the private sector. On this occasion, Mkahal stressed the vital role of women entrepreneur in the growth of domestic economy. Similarly, Zein called for increasing the number of working women in Lebanon and providing them with opportunities for progress and promotion at work. (Al Mustaqbal, Al Diyar, October 22, 2015

 

The Federation of Municipalities of Bsharreh led by its president Elie Makhlouf and  the Team of the Implementation of the Component of Capacity Building affiliated with the EU-funded Municipalities Finance Support Project represented by its head, Walter Van Damm, signed yesterday a memorandum of understanding to draw a strategy for the promotion of local development. The memorandum’s purpose is to help the Federation of Bsharreh identify the required development initiatives through providing them with the right expertise and tools that facilitate their access to funds. Van Damm pointed out that the European Union seeks to support the Federation in realizing the essential development and advancement of its villages and towns. (Al Diyar, Al Mustaqbal, October 22, 2015)

 

Under the patronage of Agriculture Minister represented by Anwar Daou, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Green Energy Project for Green Companies organized yesterday a joint workshop at the National Library of Baakline, Chouf, to promote the concept of renewable energy in the agricultural sector. Attending were Mazen Halawi from the Central Bank, Banwa Eid from  BLC Bank, Pierre Khoury from the Lebanese Center for Energy Conservation LCEC and a representative of the Yellow Eco Energy Group. The workshop was opened with a synopsis of the project presented by engineer Majeda Meshayk followed by a discussion between participants on how to secure the right loan for the undertaking. In conclusion, Daou applauded the operational mechanism of the project which is expected to reduce the cost of production on farmers and ensure compliance with environmental specifications and the safety of production. (Al Mustaqbal, October, 21, 2015)

 

As part of the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument, (ENPI), the Ministry of Agriculture and the Mediterranean Agricultural Institute in Montpellier (IAM) launched last Monday the second phase of the EU-funded  Agricultural and Rural Development Program (ARDP). The second phase extending for a period of 30 months will reportedly focus on policies supporting producers through specific priority issues. These include for example, the agricultural extension systems that boost the performance of farmers; methods to mainstream agricultural practices towards promoting the preservation of resources and the environment in order to deliver high quality products, and marketing expansion techniques that link local producers with domestic and international markets. (Al Mustaqbal, October 20, 2015)

 

The American University of Beirut Nature Conservation Center organized last Saturday at the AUB campus and in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism a ceremony to launch the Baldati Bi’ati (my village is my environment) initiative awards for the year 2015 during which an exhibition of green maps of the municipalities took place. The project, funded by Coca Cola Foundation, has been working for four years with over 70 municipalities to map and preserve their natural and cultural resources within an inclusive participatory role of the local community. During the conference which was held in the presence of representatives of those municipalities, tour operators, events’ organizers as well as academic and rural tourism concerned figures, certificates were distributed among participants in Baldati Bi’ati 2015 and winners received awards as such: the town of Galboun, Byblos: urban and sustainable management and planning; Hadat al Jibbeh, Bshari: societal management and conservation of private forests; Aintoura, Kesrouan: sustainable management of public green spaces and walking (hiking) trails, and Rashana, Batroun: urban planning by local NGOs and artists. The 2015 environmental leadership awards went to Salim Ashkar from Khreibit al Chouf, who renovated his family’s 250-year old house and turned it into a guesthouse. Ashkar also works as an environmental tour guide. (Al Diyar, October 19, 2015)

 

In a first of its kind gathering comprising all beekeeping coops, the National Trade Union of Cooperatives-Beekeeping Coops, organized yesterday a workshop at its center in Badaro, Beirut to tackle challenges facing the cooperatives movement. During the meeting, the chief of the Cooperative Association of Beekeepers in Upper Matn, Abdel Nasser Masri, outlined the present state of the Union which he said has seen a quantum leap after the election of its new board. Participants focused on the negligible  government assistance to this sector, the problematic relations with the General Directorate of Cooperatives and the outdated legislations managing cooperative work, in addition to the countless difficulties facing the beekeeping industry. In conclusion, participants agreed to develop an integrated plan for the sector and to hold another workshop on Sunday, November 1 to follow up on the situation. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, October 20, 2015)

The housewives in the areas of Arkoub, Hasbaya and Marjeyoun are busy preparing a whole collection of mouneh items, like eggplant, cucumber and Armenian cucumber pickles, as well as fig, apricot, apple, quince and pomegranate jams, raisons, zaatar, goat labneh and village cheese, olives and olive oil, in addition to a collection of homemade soaps and herb blends. To shed light on the story, Al Mustaqbal daily interviewed a number of women engaged in this annual activity. Um Shady Kadri, from Kfarshouba, boasted that she is “selling much of her healthy, whole food and hygiene compliant products to Lebanese expatriates who visit their hometown each summer”. Um Bilal Farouk also from Kfarshouba, explained that summer is the season for stocking the winter mouneh which “saves both money and health” for her family members as compared to the hazardous fast food lifestyle. In this respect, the newspaper talked to Mirhi Kassem from the village of Kfar Hamam, Hasbaya, who owns a shop displaying all kinds of rural delicacies made in his hometown and the neighboring Kfarshouba. “Selling traditional mouneh has become my source of livelihood,” he said, especially after the upsurge in demand on this industry mainly during the summer months. (Al Mustaqbal, October 19, 2015)

 

The Agriculture Minister Akram Chehayeb said that the ultimate goal of agricultural production has always been to control the expansion of poverty and secure social protection. However, “developmental imbalance has led to a drop by 15% in the number of people entirely dependent on this industry for their livelihood,” the minister added, noting that the agriculture’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product barely stands at 7%.” Chehayeb was speaking on the occasion of the World Food Day last Friday in Beirut where he represented Prime Minister Tamam Salam. The event was organized jointly by his ministry and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization FAO on the 70th anniversary of its foundation, and in collaboration with the UN Information Center UNIC Beirut, the Italian Cooperation Office, the Italian Embassy and the Lebanese Food Bank. The ministry’s general director, engineer Louis Lahoud, pointed out that the ministry is fully aware of the importance of twinning agriculture and social protection, as stipulated in the Ministry’s strategy 2015-2019 that “improving the performance of the agricultural sector helps to achieve a sustainable rural, environmental, social and economic development. (As Safir, Al Mustaqbal, October 17, 18, 2015)

 

A modern hydraulic oil press mill was launched yesterday in cooperation with the Agricultural Cooperative Association in Qubiyat, and the USAID funded Lebanon Industry Value Chain Development Program in the presence of concerned figures. The chief of the Cooperative, Toni Raad, stressed the importance of the mill project which is state of the art, thanking all who contributed to making it a breakthrough in the quality of production. The  $292,000 newly inaugurated oil press is anticipated to produce high quality oil in line with international specifications as soon as it starts operating with the opening of the current olive harvest season. (Al Diyar, October 16, 2015)