During the past years, the agricultural sector’s labour force has declined sharply, as well as its contribution to Lebanon’s GDP from 6% in 2004 to 4% in 2017. These numbers mean that the country is facing a real food security catastrophe and rural poverty. The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) has always been committed to supporting and helping rural communities, especially that Lebanese farmers were struggling due to frequent losses over the seasons, and difficulty in marketing their crops.
“There are 16,000 hectares of apple trees and 30,000 tons of annual [apple] production; the Lebanese Apple Day is a good chance to promote and sell local apples”, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Hassan Lakkis said at a news conference a few days ago.
In response to the
call of the Ministry of Agriculture, LOST initiated a campaign to support apple
farmers in Baalbeck-Hermel. LOST purchased four tons of apples, which were
distributed at all LOST training and education centers to Lebanese and Syrian
students.
