The René Moawad Foundation (RMF) and Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) officially launched a new phase of their Economic Development and Food Security (EDFS) programme on 24 February 2026, extending a partnership that has already lifted household incomes for hundreds of farming families in North Lebanon and Akkar.
The new phase, funded under NORAD’s Strategic Partnership with Civil Society shifts the programme’s focus toward Climate-Smart Agriculture, in direct response to worsening environmental conditions in the two governorates. Illegal water use has climbed to 44 percent amid infrastructure failures and recurring power cuts, while rainfall across North Lebanon and Akkar has dropped by 37 percent. Nationally, agricultural and food security losses linked to Lebanon’s economic collapse, conflict, and drought are estimated at USD 742 million.
The programme builds on a first EDFS cycle that ran from June to December 2025 and reached 246 beneficiaries across thirteen villages in the North and Akkar, raising average household income among participants by 30 percent — well above the project’s original 10 percent target.
This second phase introduces a set of climate-focused activities alongside the training components that defined the first cycle. New farmers will receive Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) training and on-farm coaching, while returning farmers from the 2025 cohort will undergo Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) training paired with Climate-Smart Agriculture practices, including water meters, mulching, and soil monitoring. Ninety women will take part in composting training and receive composting kits, and two pilot coco-peat greenhouses, one in North Lebanon, one in Akkar, will test soil-free growing methods designed to counter worsening water scarcity and soil degradation.
Implementation is organized around two outcomes: strengthening the living income of small-scale producers and service providers, and making local food production more sustainable and climate-resilient.
From the first EDFS cycle’s measurable gains in household income and market access, to this new phase’s focus on climate resilience and water efficiency, RMF’s partnership with NCA and NORAD reflects a sustained, evolving commitment to the farming communities of North Lebanon and Akkar, one that continues to adapt as the pressures facing them change.
