Lebanon Elected Head of 33rd FAO Conference, Beirut Meeting to Be Held Feb. 2016

The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture was unanimously elected on Friday to head the Food and Agriculture Organization's 33rd regional conference of the Near East and North Africa.

The conference will be held in Beirut in 2016.

"Director General of the ministry Louis Lahoud was elected the head of the organization at a FAO conference in Rome,” the state-run National News Agency.

Lahoud considered at the Italian event that the great influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon has “put a huge burden on the sector of agriculture in the country.”

He explained: “The refugees were concentrated in poor border regions that rely on agricultural activities as a main source of livelihood. This put a huge burden on the residents of these regions, especially in regards to providing meals for these displaced groups of people and creating work opportunities after labor has become a very competitive matter.”

Lahoud added: “We were also faced with difficulties in exporting our products through Syrian lands to Gulf countries that are the main markets for selling Lebanese goods. Farmers then had to find other means to export their products through aerial and sea routes and this doubled the cost of production.”

He also pointed out to the lack on control on the border, noting that it allows for the transmission of viruses between herds moving between the two countries without any supervision or restrictions.

Another change to this sector was manifested in donor countries focusing now on programs dedicated to aiding refugees instead of supporting agriculture, the Director General said.

"Hence, today we need to double the efforts, projects and investments, especially in border regions, and provide support for societies that rely on agriculture for their livelihoods to prevent creating a poverty crisis and ticking social time bombs.”