Frost threatens upcoming agriculture harvests in the absence of a natural contingency fund

Al Ghabun village is known as the capital of the green houses in the southern part of Mount Lebanon, especially flower growing. That region is a witness to the scale of the disaster resulting from the frost storm that hit the country this winter. The mayor Sheikh Akram Bu Hussein noted that 90% of the inhabitants of the village generate their livelihoods mainly from agriculture. He added: “Losses are greater than the resources at hand; one flower is normally sold at LBP1000 in the winter season, but the bitter cold has not only destroyed flowers but also affected the seedlings”. “This means that the harvest for next year will also be affected,” Bu Hussein added. He stressed the need to carry out an assessment survey of damages, stating that he personally lost at least 50,000 flowers that were grown within 12 green houses valued at some LBP 40 million. Similarly, the recent storm almost completely destroyed the fields of vegetables and seedlings located in the southern plains of Al Mari, Al Majidiyeh, Sarda, Wazzani and Hasbani. Furthermore, snow covered the area for the first time in over 30 years, causing severe damages to seedlings, destroying the green houses of the area, and causing huge financial losses on farmers beyond reparation. The frost particularly hit the harvest of tomato, cucumber, lettuce, green beans, potato and cabbage. The devastated area extends over 8000 acres from Al Wazzani River’s west bank all the way to the fringes of Al Khiyam and Al Mari villages. Commenting on the situation, Al Mari mayor, Youssef Fayyad, said, “What happened is plainly an agricultural disaster that wiped out the summer harvest season and inflicted heavy losses beyond the farmers’ financial capacities”. He appealed to the government for a swift compensation. Meanwhile, and in the eastern part of the country, the blizzard battered the old olive trees of several villages and towns in north Beqaa, affecting some 10,000 to 15,000 acres of cultivated land. It is to be noted that the farmers’ unions, in cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry, are currently assessing the level of damages that hit olive trees, green houses, bee hives, livestock and destroyed farms. Secretary of the Union of Farmers’ Union in Lebanon, Hussein Darwish, described the situations as catastrophic. He also noted that 80% of green houses were destroyed while production losses reached a hike of 95%, that nearly 70 heads of cattle, goats and sheep died and that the olive industry was also badly hit. Regarding the compensations from government, the President of the Union of Flower Growers and Seedlings in Lebanon, Roger Moawwad, clarified that the union appealed to Prime Minister Tamam Salam, and demanded an assessment survey of the losses in the sector. Moawwad added that PM promised to raise the issue during the forthcoming Cabinet meeting. For his part, Agriculture Minister, Akram Chehayeb, asked affected farmers to submit their reports on losses to the related Ministry’s departments located in various districts and regions, according to Moawwad, who voiced his skepticism over the outcome, stating that the real intentions of the government is to merely absorb the resentment of farmers. (As Safir, Al Diyar, 6,7,9 March 2015)