“NOWARA” 2012 prizes for best economic initiatives by rural women || Newspapers (Arabic)

Results of the annual NOWARA contest prizes for best economic initiatives implemented by rural women were released yesterday in a ceremony organized by the National Observatory for Women in Agriculture and Rural Areas (NOWARA) and held one day before at the Ministry of Agriculture on Monday. The ceremony on October 15 was held on the occasion of the International Rural Women Day and was headed by the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein al-Hajj Hassan and former Minister, Wafaa al-Diqa Hamza. The winners of the 2012 prizes were as follows:

• In the category of ready-made rural foods – Freelance category: the winner was Fatima Zein, the Director of Ajami al-Mrooj establishment – Shoukeen, Nabatieh
• In the category of food and agricultural processing: The prize winner among cooperatives was Al-Ameera cooperative headed by Naoofa Ja3far and located in Dar al-Was3a, Baalbeck.
• NOWARA prize in the field of food and agricultural processing – Freelance category was shared by Dunia Bassil, the owner of Joozoorina establishment from Smaar Jbeil, Batroon; and Mayssoon Abu Matar, the Director of the Al-Koowara Natural Food institution – Kfarkatra, Shoof.

The meeting also saw the announcement about the qualification of ten female entrepreneurs and participants from the cooperatives to participate in the international fair, Horeca, which will take place in Beirut in 2013.
For his part, Minister Al-Hajj Hassan indicated that the ministry of agriculture aspires to ensure the continuation of the NOWARA competition by providing funding for the prizes from the budget of the ministry of agriculture so as to ensure this project’s viability and autonomy from relying on donor agencies. He added that efforts will be exerted with the aim of turning the NOWARA into an established institution with a clear administrative structure, and adequate budget and personnel. It is worth mentioning that funding of the NOWARA prizes for 2010 and 2011 was made through a foreign funded project aiming at supporting olive and olive-oil producers in marginalized areas of Lebanon. The project was funded by the Italian government and is implemented by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute in Bari.

Source: Annahar, Mustaqbal