Lebanon’s Agriculture Strategy for 2015-2020 aims at food security and sustainable rural development

The Minister of Agriculture, Akram Chehayeb, announced during the ministerial meeting held yesterday by the FAO in Rome and entitled “Governance and International Commodity Markets” that Lebanon is preparing its national strategy for agriculture for 2015 - 2020.  The strategy will seek to strengthen food security, and sustainable rural and agricultural development.  Chehayeb clarified that his ministry will implement this strategy at different levels namely through increasing productivity, providing safe food supply, increasing the contribution of agriculture to GNP, curtailing rural exodus, raising agricultural awareness and the rational use of natural resources. In a related vein, Chehayeb indicated that total annual imports of food have exceeded now USD two billion thus recording a 90% increase over the past ten years.  Chehayeb added that this situation makes Lebanon vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of food and agricultural products.

Source: Al-Safir 10 October 2014