BEIRUT — The René Moawad Foundation (RMF) has concluded its role in a major agricultural livelihoods and food security project that ran from November 2022 through April 2026, reaching more than 31,000 people across North Lebanon and Akkar.
The initiative was implemented as part of a four-partner consortium led by Deutsche Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and funded by Germany’s BMZ, with each partner covering a distinct area: RMF led activities in Akkar and the North, LOST worked in Baalbek and Hermel, Jean Paul II strengthened cooperatives across all regions, and Hadatha ran social stability programming. The project targeted five value chains — greenhouse vegetables, pomegranate, aromatic plants, peanut, and onion — aiming to boost incomes for both Lebanese and Syrian communities while strengthening social cohesion between them.
At its core, RMF trained 525 farmers across 20 batches in good agricultural practices, business skills, and marketing, with nearly all participants showing measurable gains in technical and marketing knowledge. Those who completed the training received tailored in-kind support — seeds, fertilizers, irrigation materials, and tools — along with one-on-one coaching from agricultural engineers. RMF also helped 119 farmers formally register with the Ministry of Agriculture and supported seven purchasing and selling committees, including the revival of the long-dormant Rahbe Agricultural Cooperative.
Beyond the farms, the project created jobs through Cash-for-Work activities at eight sites, employing 352 workers — 45 % of them women — to rehabilitate irrigation canals, roads, and retaining walls, and to build a new water reservoir. Six networking events connected farmers, cooperatives, and buyers, drawing over 4,300 participants and linking producers to national platforms like Made in Lebanon and Agri-Lebanon.
Inclusion was a defining feature of the project: women made up 34.5 % of trained farmers, well above the original 9 % target, and a dedicated component at the Sammounieh camp supported 47 Syrian refugees with vertical planting systems for household food production.
Delivered against the backdrop of Lebanon’s economic collapse, renewed conflict, and mass displacement, the project’s organizers say it reflects what sustained, multi-partner investment in rural livelihoods can achieve, strengthening not just incomes, but the social fabric of communities hosting some of the country’s most vulnerable residents.
