NNA - On March 8, Japanese Ambassador MAGOSHI Masayuki joined FAO Representative in Lebanon, Nora Ourabah Haddad for a visit to beneficiaries of the FAO project “Increase resilience of vulnerable smallholder farming families affected by the economic crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. 

They also met with a number of farmers at the agricultural center of Deir El Ahmar in the presence of head of unions of municipalities of Deir El Ahmar and heads of municipalities from Baalbeck region.
Implemented by FAO in 2022 in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and funded by the government of Japan, the project targeted 1145 vulnerable smallholder women and men farmers most affected by the multiple crisis facing the country. The project focused on the distributing of vouchers to enable farmers to purchase agricultural inputs and animal feed for the 2021 agricultural season.

In his speech Ambassador Magoshi Masayuki said:” Japan recognizes the importance of reinforcing Lebanon’s agricultural sector amid growing concerns over the livelihoods of the smallholder farmers and the food security situation across the country. The Government of Japan has therefore decided to support this project to mitigate the impact of the country’s multiple crisis on farmers, help them boost their agricultural production and subsequently contribute to the sustainable economic development.”

For FAO Representative, farmers were able to increase and maintain their agricultural production and income to sustain their livelihoods. She added: “FAO considers the voucher scheme as an entry point to sustain local productivity in view to achieving food security in Lebanon”.

The vouchers enabled targeted smallholder farmers to purchase agricultural inputs and animal feed for the 2022 agricultural season from a defined list of quality controlled inputs registered in the Ministry of Agriculture.

----------------------------