Safadi training for Akkar women in thyme cultivation

Safadi Foundation organized a series of training workshops for the second grouping of women from all over Akkar, who benefited from the EU-funded project aiming at exploiting local resources for the development of rural economy in Akkar. The project is part of the ‘Ideas- 3” program which funded by the European Union and managed by the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Development Affairs (OMSAR), in collaboration with the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, AIDA. The training sessions which took place at Safadi Center for Agricultural Development-Akkar, were led by Lebanese University professor, Agronomist, Dr. Jihad Noon, who is an expert on the growing of Thyme and aromatic herbs, and with the participation of some 40 women and their families. The course covered different stages of thyme ‘Zaatar’ cultivation, mainly, soil preparation, planting, irrigation, harvest and marketing of the produce. The Project’s Agriculture Engineer, Emile Al Asmar, underlined the significance of the said project for Akkar region at both the economic and development levels. He also urged women participants to complete all related training sessions, and to look after their crops in order to generate income for their households. (Al Diyar, 30 March 2015)