The harvest is plenty

The continued worsening of the economic situation in Syria and Lebanon keeps on depriving many families from their jobs or livelihoods. For years, MERATH has been supporting sustainable agriculture projects to help families gain skills or get back on their feet. All combined, these initiatives have had a multi-faceted and multi-generational impact that gladly allow us to say, despite all the challenges our region faces: “The workers are few, but the harvest is plenty.”

LEBANON – growing beyond our expectations

In Lebanon, the agriculture project MERATH supports continues its trajectory toward self-sustainability. What started as a small sustainable agriculture training has now grown beyond our expectations, to a farm over the past three years, and a dairy products factory this year.

In only three years, the farm went from eight cows and a few sheep to 21 cows, 11 calves, and 20 sheep. As a result, the farm had to be relocated, and milk production substantially increased. Initially, the team only knew how to prepare three types of products but has now diversified to many types of cheese (halloum, kashkaval, shanklish, gouda, Swiss tomme) on top of butter, labneh, and yogurt, thanks to MERATH supported trainings and the help of a local priest specialized in cheese making.

This year, Thimar came alongside our local church partner to help them open their very own dairy product factory. The official opening was on October 18, and four of the 15 women MERATH trained in dairy production earlier in the summer have been hired to work there.

In parallel, our partner church is still growing organic vegetables, some of which they sell and some of which they distribute for free to people in need. Last year, around 140 vulnerable households from the community and 45 internally displaced families from South Lebanon received fresh organic produce, while the project provided seasonal or stable income to 33 workers. Johny, a church member involved in the project, shared:

“Thanks to the agriculture project, we can distribute fresh organic vegetables to families who need them the most, which helps us create good relationships with our neighbors. And with the milk our cows produce, we can now make our own yogurt and various types of cheese. We are so excited to expand our production of dairy products through the newly opened dairy factory. We hope the income we get from selling our products will be enough to support ourselves and our church. Ultimately, our hope is that the word of God might reach more people.”

SYRIA – Diversifying our assistance

In various locations in Syria, and in partnership with the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC), we have helped over 1,500 farmers over the years to get back to their fields, cultivate their land, meet their own basic needs and sell their production. Last year, we diversified the type of agricultural assistance provided. On top of a more traditional agriculture assistance for 45 wheat farmers, we supported 180 home gardens and fruit trees owners for the first time.  

Vulnerable families with home gardens were given sustainable agriculture training, seeds, organic fertilizers, water tanks, drip-irrigation systems, and/or solar panels, so they can reduce their costs, be more self-sustainable, and grow most of their own food for personal consumption.140 fruit trees owners were also supported. 960 old olive trees and grape vines were replaced by new ones, and peach and almond trees were pruned and maintained, which contributed to more than 30% increase in yield compared to previous years.

These initiatives have a multi-generational impact, as they improve the material and psychological conditions of entire families and as participants pass on their new knowledge to their children. Fouad, a father of four, shared:

“Without this project, I couldn’t afford to cultivate my field, since we have no extra money to spare for agricultural equipment, fertilizer, seeds, or labor force. I try to teach everything I learn to my children, which increases their own skills and experience and plants in them a love for agriculture. I am happy I can pass this new knowledge on to my children, which will give them a head start in life. I hope their future will be more prosperous thanks to it.”