In a series of high-level meetings and discussions, we presented international partners with the reality of the extensive damage the war has inflicted on Lebanon’s agricultural sector, with around 22% of agricultural land affected, directly impacting production and supply chains.
During my participation in the ministerial meeting for the Near East region within the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, we stressed the serious repercussions of this damage on food security, at a time when about 24% of اللبنانيين need assistance to secure their food.
On the sidelines of the conference, I held bilateral meetings with a number of leading international partners, accompanied by Lebanon’s Ambassador to Italy, Carla Jazzar, including:
* Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
* Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP)
* Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
* Chair of the Committee on World Food Security
* Independent Chairperson of the FAO Council
* Director of the FAO Office of Emergencies and Resilience
The consensus was clear: the need to strengthen support for Lebanon’s agricultural sector and to highlight the devastating effects of the war on food security and farmers’ livelihoods.
The message from Rome was decisive:
Lebanon’s agricultural sector is not merely an economic sector, but the first line of defense for national food security. What it faces today requires urgent and coordinated international action to support farmers’ resilience and ensure the continuity of production.
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