Hilly Areas Sustainable Agriculture Development Project

Lebanon

Poverty levels among the rural and war-stricken areas of Lebanon are high, with the hilly areas being the hardest hit. The project thus aims at raising agricultural productivity in these areas by carrying out a water and soil conservation development component that will excavate around 30 ponds and reservoirs, as well as five lakes with a total storage capacity of 1.5 million m³. Works will include:

• construction of irrigation networks;
• building of supplemental earth/concrete reservoirs;
• provision of technical support to small farmers;
• establishment of grading and packing, as well as refrigerated storage facilities;
• establishment of a scheme where local producers can purchase reasonably-priced inputs such as fruit trees, seeds and fertilizers.