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BASATINE - Bolstering Agriculture Systems’ Ability To Invest, Nourish and Employ

Project

Soutien au secteur agricole, à la sécurité alimentaire et à l’emploi au Liban (BASATINE)
© AFD
Project start date
Status

Ongoing

Project duration
48 months
AFD financing amount
17 700 000 €
Country and region
Lebanon
Location
Akkar and Bekaa
Type of financing
Grant, Minka Peace and Resilience Fund
Beneficiaries
CARE France, Mercy Corps Europe, Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training, Fondation Georges N. Frem, Al Majmoua, Berytech
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The severe financial and economic crisis in Lebanon hit hard the agricultural sector and farmers are struggling to preserve their livelihood and productivity due to their heavy dependency on imported inputs. The consortium led by CARE France, with the support of AFD, is contributing to the recovery of affected small farms, and maintaining employment opportunities of vulnerable populations, by providing support to more than 3,400 farm holders.

Context

This project aims to immediately address food insecurity in the country, provide needed income and support to farmers, by improving the capacity of the agri-food system to maintain employment and growth. 

Description

The consortium led by CARE France will support local farms in Akkar and the Bekaa, mainly the vegetables and cereals value chain production.

BASATINE program interventions aim to:

  • Provide an emergency support to 3,400 vulnerable farmers to maintain their production and employment by funding their direct needs for inputs, local seeds, and technical support to secure agricultural yields.
  • Enhance the resilience of farmers to shocks and actual crisis, through securing jobs of their seasonal workers, offering training sessions and technical support to allow the promotion of agro-ecological production practices, pilot actions to enhance the land tenure and to rehabilitate and make available abandoned public land to landless farmers.
  • Improve farmers’ access to market prices information, through an existing digital platform that will be selected and equipped with new functions, in collaboration with a mobile telephone network.
  • Boost financial skills of targeted farmers, and support to define clear financial plans and investment strategies aiming to develop financial products adapted to the needs of farmers (loans, guarantees, micro-insurance).
  • Generate evidence to better identify the development challenges and opportunities of the
  • agriculture sector, in particular on risk factors in the agri-food and targeted sectors, and an assessment on gender based challenges and vulnerabilit.

Impacts

  • 3,400 farmers improve their livelihoods through sustainable, productive, equitable and resilient afri-food systems;
  • 6,500 actors in the sector recover their livelihoods, affected by the recent socio-economic and financial crisis, including 150 input suppliers and 2,000 local seeds producers;
  • Agriculture and industry players increase their investment through tailor-made and inclusive financial services;
  •  Actors in the agricultural sector benefit from reliable and quality data to promote development of the sector.