The weak status of the Lebanese pound and a weary economy had caused upheaval in Lebanon, leading the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to categories the Arab country as a "hotspot" in a recent report due to the deteriorating food situation. Speaking on the situation Lebanon, FAO Representative in Lebanon Maurice Saade told KUNA in an interview that Lebanon has been categorized as hotspot country due to the deteriorating food situation in Lebanon as part of a global UN report food crisis. Saade added that such categorization was also due to the elimination of food support to main items. Saade noted "Lebanon imports around 80 percent of its food, and is in need of hard currency for such imports that is no longer available." This made the situation "quickly deteriorate due to the country's economic crisis, inflation, and the instability to prices of the local currency against the US dollar." The FAO official said, some "50 percent of the Lebanese people are unable to acquire all of their food needs," adding that this was as result of the deteriorating purchasing power to Lebanese citizens, and the increase of unemployment rates, which directly affected Lebanon middle class. Saade also noted that FAO main task was to support Lebanese farmers and agriculture production, especially on the cost farming production, stressing that Lebanese farmers were hit hard in this crisis due to the increase of the dollar's price rate, high cost of imports to basic farming supplies, like cement, plants, and so on. However, work is ongoing to increase farming production in Lebanon and that is to minimize food shortages and imports others, Saade said. Last month, the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) implemented a program to support small-scale farmers funded by a re-allocation of $10 million from the existing World Bank financed Roads and Employment Project. The program is expected to benefit small-scale farmers who have suffered from the ongoing economic crisis and from this year's COVID-19-related planting and harvesting delays. Under this program, each eligible farmers' will receive vouchers valued at $300 for the procurement of essential inputs to enable continued agricultural production. Two types of vouchers will be provided: vouchers for crop production inputs (fertilizers, seeds, seedlings and other eligible inputs) and vouchers for animal production inputs, mostly feed. Farmers throughout Lebanon would be eligible to apply for support through the voucher scheme, with the number of target beneficiaries in each governorate reflecting the relative agricultural contribution and number of farmers by governorate. "FAO is building on its similar agricultural inputs voucher schemes experience in Lebanon and the world with the aim to contribute to restoring the livelihoods and productive capacities of farmers and producers and increasing agricultural production and productivity in Lebanon," Saade said. The failure to form a government in the past year caused numerous problems to Lebanese citizens, including fuel shortages and high currency rates, which recently reached 20,000 Lebanese pound against one dollar. The financial and economic crisis in Lebanon, including the collapse of the local currency against the US Dollar has led to the loss of necessary supplies like food, medical equipment, and medicines, which used to be imported in the past. The continuous failure to end various issues in Lebanon has threatened numerous vital sectors in the country, which also witnessed the decline of wages, including the decline of purchasing power that led to the loss of various needs. The plummeting pound has created unprecedented inflation leaving many citizens incapable of buying basic food and necessities. In addition to the monetary crisis, the country was gripped with other issues, such as shortage of fuel and medicines, also soaring prices of commodities. — KUNA
