In a bid to support small farmers and the local economy, boost community health, as well as strengthen food security by improving food availability and accessibly, the Order of Malta in partnership with the Saradar Foundation has launched an Agro-humanitarian project under the slogan of “Healthy, We Grow.”
The project is providing 1.2 million seedlings of winter crops to 350 small farmers located in the catchment areas of the Order of Malta’s primary health care centers.
The areas include Khaldiya in Zgharta, Al Qobayat, Ras Baalbek, Barqa, Deir Al-Ahmar in Northern Bekaa and Yaroun in South Lebanon.
The project aims to empower local communities by supporting the agricultural sector, targeting small farmers and helping them pursue their farming activities. Farmers are coached to adopt climate smart agricultural methods in order to ensure healthy domestic production while protecting natural resources.
The importance of the project lies in each beneficiary donating 5% of his/her agricultural production to be distributed among the most vulnerable communities benefiting from the Order’s health care services.
This pilot project represents a promising opportunity for a sustainable agricultural project, currently being designed by the organization.
The project is multistage, beginning with the Order of Malta purchasing seeds and seedlings from local companies and NGOs, contributing to Lebanon’s economy by providing job opportunities during the process of turning seeds into seedlings. These seedlings will then be distributed to farmers who will proceed with planting them in their lands.
Agricultural visits by project supervisors will also be granted, including agricultural engineers and specialized experts from the Order of Malta to support farmers, provide them with the necessary expertise and skills, and familiarize them with best practices and sound agricultural methods that ensure both better productivity and protect natural resources.
The project will generate some 1,250 tons of fresh products, enhancing the economic and purchasing power of farmers while improving their living conditions. It will also pave the way for vulnerable communities to secure healthy products at lower costs.
Specific crops were chosen based on their consumption within the traditional Lebanese diet while being a rich source of vitamins, antioxidants and fiber. These crops also consume a relatively low amount of water and fertilizers, thus conserving natural resources and reducing health side effects and pollution.
Mr. Marwan Sehnaoui, president of the Order of Malta in Lebanon, praised the project while labeling it as the “embodiment of the interdependence of the agricultural and health sectors.”
“Enhancing livelihoods through agriculture contributes to providing healthy agricultural production and establishing healthy nutritional patterns,” he said.
“This also contributes to strengthening individual and community health, while building on the efforts achieved in the health care and medical fields all while improving food security, especially in the midst of the successive crises that Lebanon had witnessed; this is paralleled with extreme increase in food prices alongside deteriorating socio-economic conditions and substantially diminished purchasing power of the most vulnerable social groups,” Mr. Sehnaoui added.
“The launch of our project is an embodiment of the association’s principles, its humanitarian approach and its mission to empower the most vulnerable individuals and social groups, whether through health care or social services,” Mr. Sehnaoui added.
“This project will support farmers and urge them to adopt sound agricultural methods, therefore contributing to economic development, increasing local agricultural production and pushing towards a healthy food approach, as well as establishing a culture of social solidarity.”
Mrs. Maria Saradar, president of the Saradar Foundation, echoed Mr. Sehnaoui’s comments and praised “the active partnership with the Order of Malta” as Lebanon grapples with its most severe economic crisis in decades.
The project is evidence of “the urgent need for cooperation in order to overcome the current economic and social crisis,” Mrs. Saradar said.
“The project will create job opportunities, boost economic sectors, and enhance food security by making use of fertile lands in various Lebanese regions while securing alternatives for crops, goods and imported products,” she added.
Mrs. Saradar described the project as a “reflection to the aspirations of both organizations towards a healthier and more sustainable society, especially as we share the same values that define the nature of our mission,” highlighting the role that the organization has played in the health care sector in Lebanon for more than 60 years, particularly through its primary health care centers located in the remote areas, which will helps us reach different social strata.
