BEIRUT, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's agricultural sector is reeling from the combined pressures of the Israeli war, climate change, and drought, Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani said on Friday, estimating war-related damages alone at 800 million U.S. dollars.
In an interview with Xinhua, Hani detailed the ministry's efforts to address these challenges through farmer compensation and production support projects, calling it a serious bid to safeguard a pillar of the national economy and ensure food security.
Citing a World Bank report, Hani confirmed that agricultural damages stemming from the war amount to approximately 800 million dollars, while the country's total agricultural output stood at 2.18 billion dollars in 2024.
"About 4,000 hectares of agricultural land were damaged, with around 20 percent destroyed," he said. "Hundreds of olive and citrus orchards were uprooted, and large numbers of plastic greenhouses, poultry farms, horse stables, and beehives were destroyed."
The minister revealed that Lebanon is working with international partners to focus support on the hardest-hit areas in southern and eastern Lebanon.
The Ministry of Agriculture has submitted a draft law to parliament seeking a 200-million-dollar loan to rehabilitate the sector, provide soft loans to small farmers, and support youth initiatives and agricultural cooperatives.
Hani said climatic shifts, declining rainfall, and shrinking snowfall have also clearly damaged crops, particularly grains -- especially wheat -- and summer harvests.
He considered climate change and reduced precipitation among the biggest threats, noting that this year's rainfall did not exceed 50 percent of the annual average and was limited to just 45 days. This restricted irrigation and negatively affected crops nationwide, particularly in eastern Lebanon, a major grain-growing area.
"To mitigate the effects of these changes, the ministry, in cooperation with local and international partners, has launched several solutions," Hani explained, adding that these solutions include rainwater harvesting by rehabilitating medium- and large-sized mountain reservoirs, constructing 30 new reservoirs, and encouraging farmers to adopt drip irrigation projects to conserve water.
Hani stressed the need to modernize and develop the sector to meet international standards, especially as Lebanon exports competitive products such as grapes, apples, bananas, and avocados.
As part of its rehabilitation efforts, the ministry launched a three-year recovery program, which includes establishing irrigation networks, planting 50,000 olive trees to replace those destroyed during the war, and planting an additional 2,000 new olive trees.
The ministry is also creating more agricultural networks and managing funds dedicated to agricultural support through a 200-million-dollar World Bank loan.
Hani said the ministry has begun drafting a new long-term agricultural vision and strategy for 2026 to 2035, with the primary goal of revising the agricultural map and identifying the most productive areas.
Regulatory steps are also being taken concerning mandatory agricultural pesticides and product quality, with coordination underway with the Ministry of Economy on a plan to market agricultural produce domestically and abroad.
In March, the ministry organized a training session for farmers and agricultural cooperatives on modern techniques, benefiting about 7,000 farmers across Lebanon.
"The ministry is also guiding farmers to grow crop varieties adapted to climate change and encouraging cultivation under plastic greenhouses to reduce the effects of climate fluctuations," Hani added.
"Supporting agriculture will remain a national priority to ensure the resilience of farmers, the continuity of production, and the protection of food security in Lebanon," the minister said.
Agriculture is the third-largest sector in Lebanon's economy after services and industry, contributing about 7 percent of GDP and providing income for roughly 15 percent of the population. ■
