Overview:
1) Tto support rural development in Southern Lebanon by providing resident population with those facilities and expertise suitable to improve the quality of production and favour product commercialisation.
Project purpose: to provide training, technical assistance, farming machinery and support in the processing of agricultural products in the cazas of Marjayoun, Hasbaja, Bint-Jbeil.
Activities:
-establishment of 3 facilities providing agricultural, farm mechanization and production processing services to farmers at low prices;
-opening of 3 offices providing technical assistance and training services to farmers, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture;
-establishment of a laboratory for agricultural analysis at the school of Khyam (Marjayoun);
-rehabilitation of an abandoned plant nursery owned by the Ministry of Agriculture, in the caza of Bint-Jbeil;
-reforestation of 30 hectares of marginal land with erosion problems in the three cazas.
Results:
-3 service centers have been established in Marjayoun, Hasbaya and Bint-Jbeil to offer the farmers mechanization and transformation of agricultural services at a low price:
-2.830 farmers have benefited from agricultural services with 6.155 work hours;
-1.057 farmers have benefited from the olive oil extraction machinery;
-242 beekeepers have benefited from the honey and wax extraction service;
-1.175 farmers have benefited from fertilizers and pesticides.
-Training service and technical assistance of the Agriculture Ministry to farmers and cooperatives have been improved:
-175 training courses with 3.078 farmers;
-869 interventions of technical assistance;
-20 training sessions for the personnel of the Ministry of Agriculture;
-15.000 technical handbooks have been distributed to farmers;
-5.000 technical guides have been distributed to farmers;
-A service for the agricultural analysis in the Khyam school (Marjayoun) has been created;
-An abandoned plant nursery belonging to the Ministry of Agriculture has been rehabilitated in the Caza of Bint–Jbeil for distribution of plants (75.000) to farmers meant for reforestation;
-35 hectares of marginal land affected by erosion problems in the municipalities have been rehabilitated;
-A product marketing office has been established within the Chamber of Commerce in Saida that represents a link between the farmers and market opportunities.
