News updates

The Daily Star published a report about a new pilot new farmers’ market, “Drive to the market” which was launched in August 2013 at the Zico House in collaboration with the Food Heritage Foundation and the Environmental Sustainable Development Unit at the AUB and currently with 8 farmers and producers.

The report highlights a number of stories of farmers and producers such as Hanna and Grace Rizk who tried to replicate a piece of their homeland Kesrwane and move it to the capital where they are exhibiting green peppers, cherry tomato and squash.  Antoinette Yammine and her daughter Rita from Zghorta exhibit jams, syrups, honey and olive oil.  All exhibitors emphasised that their products do not have any preservatives since their production is limited.  For her part, Noha Al-Hayek recently gave up her 18-year job as a cook and is now producing different kinds of mezze plates and salads for the Market.

Dietician Dominique Anid and a founding member of Food Heritage Foundation noted in her interview with the Daily Star that this initiative aims to preserve food heritage in Lebanon while making sure that it is transferred to the coming generations. The project also seeks to support small producers by helping them in finding new markets and share their success stories and difficulties. It is to be noted that the market opens every Wednesday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM with plans to having it later on open a daily basis and throughout the year.
Source: The Daily Star 23 August 2013
 

As Safir newspaper published a report about the current overall negative economic indicators in Lebanon which include the production and service sectors.  The report noted that the decline of these sectors is attributed to the current sluggish situation of the Lebanese economy amidst local and regional political tensions.  This is particularly affecting new investments given the impact of poor electrical, water, energy and communication services, various administrative and legal hurdles, as indicated in the report issued by Kafalat and the Research Unit at the Credit Libanais bank.
Statistics of Kafalat indicate an annual drop if 21.5% in the number of loans bestowed which have reached 481 units by the end of 2013 compared with 601 units during the same period of 2012.  The total size of loans recorded LBP 102.07 billion, thus revealing an increase in the size of the average individual loan which now stands at LBP 212.20 million.  The highest percentage of loans during the first four months of 2013 was in agriculture (40.9%), while Mount Lebanon appears to attract the highest number of loans (38.46%) followed by the Beqaa (23.91%) and the South (11.85%).
A comparison of figures for the distribution of projects per sectors, for the first 7 months of 2013 with those of 2012, reveals the following:

• Agriculture: 229 projects in July 2012 versus 197 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 32 projects (13.9 %)
• Industry: 228 projects in July 2012 versus 160 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 68 projects (29.82 %)
• Tourism: 120 projects in July 2012 versus 86 projects in July 2013; i.e. a drop of 68 projects (28.33 %)
• Other sectors: 33 projects in July 2012 versus 38 projects in July 2013; i.e. an increase of 5 projects (15.15 %)

Source: Al-Safir 21 August 2013

The development centre of Rashayya and Western Beqaa organized, in collaboration with Afaq Association and the National Office of Employment, a ceremony to distribute certificates to 20 young men and women who took part in the vocational training courses in Microsoft office (Word, Excel and Access) on a period of 6 months, overseen by experts Ali Ismael and Maya Khodor Harb. The graduation event was held at the venue of the Development, Rehabilitation and Welfare Centre of Ro2ya Association under the auspices of the Minister of Social Affairs, Mr. Wael Abou Faoor represented by Mr. Rabah Al-Qadi the deputy of the internal affairs at the Progressive Socialist Party.
The president of Afaq Association Ahmad Thabet, stressed the importance of the workshop and role in building the vocational and technical skills of trainees.  He also added that the certificates received will allow trainees to seek employment on the local and external markets.
For his part, the Vice President of the Lebanese Development Forum Mr. Wehbi Abou Faour highlighted again the importance of this workshop which will contribute to facilitating the integration of the trainees in their local communities and in using what they have learnt to promote local development and increase productivity.  He also commended the efforts of the National Office of Employment in supporting rural areas.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 21 August 2013

As Safir newspaper published a coverage of the seminar organised by the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences at the American University of Beirut (Environment and Sustainable Development Unit) under the auspices of the Danish ambassador to Lebanon Jan Top Christensen.  The seminar was entitled: “Organic Agriculture: The Danish Perspective and a Lebanese Update”.  Participants discussed the role of Lebanese institutions in strengthening the organic agricultural sector of Lebanon, the challenges it faces and the ways to increase effectiveness of inputs.  Participants also indicated their interest in taking part in a second seminar to pursue these discussions.
The seminar reviewed the history of organic agriculture in Lebanon, the role that the American University of Beirut has played in taking the initiative in encouraging this through creating the “healthy basket” project which thought to improve the livelihoods of farmers in rural areas, as well as various other initiatives the latest of which was the creation of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit in 2001 which aims at achieving  food security, empowering local communities and strengthening sustainable agriculture.
The article also noted that the Ministry of Agriculture recently enacted a number of decrees to regulate organic agriculture and has set up a national technical committee of agronomists whose mandate is to develop laws, follow up the registration of organic farming bodies, and provide technical support and extension services to producers and suppliers
The technical committee is expected to integrate some of the recommendations of this seminar into the report which it will soon submit to the Council of Minister in order to promote organic agriculture in Lebanon.
Source: Al-Safir 8 August 2013

Al Safadi Foundation kicked off the training of 11 women university student volunteers in active learning methods.  The trainees will use the acquired tools thereafter to work on the implementation of a scholastic support program targeting 90 elementary students living within the confines of the old quarters of Tripoli.  The training is being conducted at the Al Safadi women academy and within the framework of the “Life is ahead of us” programme.  This programme is funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs, via the national programme for local social and economic development, which in turn is implemented within the framework of Italian cooperation assistance, and seeks to alleviate poverty and support social development in old Tripoli.
The director of the project, Khaled Hannouf, noted in an interview with Al Mustaqbal newspaper that the content of the workshop was developed in collaboration with a number of experts in education and facilitation and will spread over several days during which trainees will be equipped with sufficient information about contemporary education and tools to enable them to motivate students to further engage with their academic learning.  The project will also collaborate with neighborhood schools so as to create a favorable learning environment for children.
For her part, Samira Baghdai, the director of the social development sector at Safadi Foundation noted that the project is compatible with the five national social development goals namely: providing better health care, supporting social protection mechanisms, improving the quality of education, providing safe and equal work opportunities, developing local communities and social capital.  The objectives of the project are also in line with those of the development strategies of the ities of Fayhaa’ (Tripoli, Baddaoui, and Mina)
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 20 August 2013

Al Akhbar and Al Nahar newspapers published two articles about the migration of young Lebanese women and men on the occasion of the International Youth Day (August 12th of every year) in an attempt to raise awareness about this chronic but escalating trend.
Al Akhbar notes that 52% of the Lebanese men aged between 35 and 39 are migrating compared to 45% for women.  Former Minister Charbel Na7has notes in an interview with Al Akhbar that the Lebanese society is slowly moving to resemble the Gulf model where there is high dependence on temporary foreign labor, coupled with the growth of those economic sectors that rely on low skilled and low paid labor but not requiring high technical or human investments.
Na7has also noted the low level of participation of women in the world of work despite the fact that the proportion of women enrolled in university education is higher than men.  Thus, he saw is no point in investing in girls and women’s higher education if they end up as “housewives” after that.  In an attempt to explain this phenomenon, he added that this may be due to the fact that women still believe that the investment in their education is only to be used to benefit their children as well as have better marriage opportunities.
Na7has also pointed out to the lack of a population census in Lebanon since 1932 as well as the absence of credible and reliable national statistics except for three key surveys namely the study carried out by the Central Administration for Statistics on Labor Force (1970), the second on the labor force and household budgets in 1996, 1997, and the last one of 2007.  Finally, Na7has emphasised the importance of using these three studies in all discussion matters related to demographics, work, social conditions, household expenditures and consumption and income in Lebanon.
Within the same vein, Riad Tabbarah of MADMA (Center for Development Studies and Projects) noted in his interview with An Nahar that the main reason for the immigration of youth is, according to field studies, the search for decent work as defined by the ILO, namely work that secures fair income, sustainability and protection from exploitation.  Tabbarah further added that a study carried out by the Saint Joseph University on youth migration, and covering the period extending between 1992 and 2007, indicated that a high percentage of young immigrants (43% aged between 18 to 35 years) are university graduates of whom 37% are trained in engineering, IT and sciences, 30% in administration and services and 13% in medicine.  The same study also showed that the percentage of young immigrants with high degrees is higher than that of young residents and is continuously increasing thus indicating that the migration of brains and skills is higher amongst trained and educated young people and is increasing with time.  Tabbarah also focused on the negative correlation between immigration and employment, thus explaining that once the growth of economy surpassed a certain rate (approximately 3%), unemployment in Lebanon start decreasing as well as migration to seek job opportunities outside.  He also pointed out to the importance of remittances from Lebanese working abroad and which reaches circa 7.5 billion yearly, according to MADMA’s studies, and which makes up around 17% of the total GDP, thus concluding that remittances are a main contributor to the growth of the Lebanese economy and plays an crucial role in stabilizing the balance of payment and the national currency.
In conclusion, Tabbarah pointed out to five key issues which need to be taken into consideration when discussing youth migration, namely:
The remittances of Lebanese migrants which constitute a form of safety net for the local economy;
Youth suffer most from high unemployment and tend to migrate in search for decent work that meet their aspirations. This acts to restrain local unemployment by providing local opportunities to less qualified workers (!?)
The Lebanese emigrants play an important role in supporting Lebanon economically, culturally and politically;
Migration mostly affects those who are most skilled and educated and constitutes a major waste of economic resources;
Extensive migration has negative social implications.  According to Tabbara, the migration of males in the past has increased celibacy rates amongst women and has also resulted in an increase in the migration of non-married women.  This migration has resulted in leaving behind a cohort of elderly people who do not have any family care and thus increasing the demand for nursing home for the elderly and who are no longer able to meet this increasing demand.
Source: Al-Akhbar, Al-Nahar 12 August 20

Al Mustaqbal newspaper published a preview article on Amneh al Duhini, (Omm el Abed) who occupies a sidewalk in Raouche with her vending cart on which she sells corn cobs and fava beans and which have become quite prized by her customers
The report highlighted Omm el Abed's lifestyle as her day begins by preparing her work tools including cleaning and cooking the products.  Omm el Abed husband's then moves the vending machine to Raouche using his van at 4 pm accompanied by his wife and four daughters.  Omm el Abed and her family work every day of the week and when she returns very late to her house in Ain el Remmaneh where she moves to caring for her family.
Omm el Abed is determined in confronting life's economic and social hardship working daily on her vending cart from 4 to 12 midnight and earning a few thousand dollars a day which she uses to support her husband and family.
Although operating a vending cart is more of a male trade, Omm al Abed insist on providing a decent living to her family, stating that the public is now well familiar with her and to her husband and supportive of her work.
Source: Al-Mustaqbal 14 August 2013

As Safir newspaper published a report on a pilot agriculture development project which was launched recently by the Union of Jabal Amel Municipalities and which has resulted in the setting up of model fields to plant thyme and vegetables, the boosting of apiculture and poultry production, in addition to the manufacturing of various kinds of dairy production, as part of a general plan to support and encourage agriculture and animal farming, particularly alternative agriculture.
According to the news paper report, the first phase of the project included the setting up of 52 thyme fields spread in most of the villages of Jabal Amel.  Each field spreads over a surface area of one and a half dunum and is equipped with a drop irrigation network.  In the second phase of the project, some 2000 seedlings will be planted in each field.  The project also comprises the setting up of six model vegetable fields in Houla, Markaba, Assowaneh, Tallousa, kantara and 3dayyseh, with a 1 dunum surface area each.  These fields will be planted and nurtured under the guidance of agricultural extension workers who will be conducting field visits to farmers in order to provide assistance and guidance on how to best use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and irrigation techniques
The head of the Union, Ali Al-Zein, explained to al Safir that preliminary information indicate that there is a strong will amongst farmers to rely on alternative agriculture in view of the wider marketing possibilities, the relatively good prices, and the possibility of having more than one harvest per year.  Zein noted that this new trend carries many positive implications such as creating new work opportunities for farmers, allowing farmers to move away from the more expensive and labor intensive traditional crops such as tobacco and olives since alternative crops.  Zein also noted that the project will be looking to support animal husbandry and apiculture as training workshops were organised for the latter and have targeted all farmers. These trainings have included dairy production so as to maximize the benefit from dairy production.  The project also aims at reactivating a dairy factory, recently set up in the village of Houla in collaboration with the South Lebanon Council.  This factory will soon become operational.  Finally, Zein noted that the Union has planted more than 54000 fruit trees including 25000 olive trees and 5000 apple and kiwi trees, set up two agricultural cooperatives, in addition to an agricultural extension centre located in Markaba which is equipped with the needed machinery, an olive press, a soap making facility and a honey packaging facility.  The centre is currently offering its services to farmers at subsidized costs.
Source: Al-Safir 13 August 2013