Olive production in Hermel declines by 80%, amidst the mushrooming of cooperatives

Al Akhbar daily published a special feature on the subject with focus on olive farmers in Hermel in which it noted that this year’s harvest has recorded a drastic fall by nearly 80% compared to the previous season. Concerned parties attributed the dramatic situation mainly to climate change, in addition to growing smuggling and absence of marketing outlets. Farmers added that despite the ‘quality paradigm shift’ in the area’s olive farming and its manufacture of excellent virgin olive oil, according to French and Italian standards laboratories, the sector has not received proper attention from the government. To this effect, farmer Hussein Shamas told Al Akhbar reporter that the government has failed to secure market outlets for the local production as well to counter smuggling. He also noted that olive cultivation represents a substantial source of livelihood for hundreds of households in the region, while another olive grower, Ahmad Saheli, reported there are some 400 thousand different kinds of olive trees in Hermel alone. Al Akhbar also pointed out that many olive farmers in the area have boycotted the olive festival organized by the municipality in cooperation with Jihad al Binaa Agricultural Association, (c.f http://bit.ly/2eClPBN) and to stay away from useless ‘folkloric festivities’. In this respect, the director of the Regional Cooperative Union for Beqaa, Bassam Nasreddine, revealed that the government’s decision to purchase the olive oil was put into effect only once, in 2012, while reiterating the demand that the decision be systematically implemented. Furthermore, Nasreddine criticized the empty promises of the agriculture minister, which resulted in the creation of four new unproductive agricultural cooperatives, which raised their total number to 210 cooperatives, (80 cooperatives in Hermel only). He concluded by saying: “Instead of supporting active cooperatives, we see the emergence of new and poorly performing cooperatives; not a single market has been secured for our local production despite our repeated pleas to revive the role of the Directorate of Cooperatives whose basic function is external marketing.” (Al Akhbar, November 3, 2016)