Monday, September 13, 2010

Replacing greens with buildings: Lebanon’s decline in agriculture

By Katie Perkowski

In the countryside of the Bekaa Valley, an area known for its farmlands and escape from the city, businesses are now replacing these lands and greens, and with each year, the number of farmers and their lands are decreasing statewide.

Nicolas El-Haddad, Agricultural Research and Education Center facilities manager at the American University of Beirut, is one of these farmers watching buildings replace the lands around him.

AUB’s educational farm is located in the Bekaa Valley, about 80 kilometers from Beirut, and it is where El-Haddad lives, putting his time and work into the farm. El-Haddad is from the Bekaa region originally and has worked at AREC since 2002.

El-Haddad said agriculture in Lebanon is on the decline. He said it now seems like buildings are taking up all of the Bekaa Valley, and that they may eventually take over the entire area.

"There’s no control," he said.

For people in the Bekaa and other rural areas, farmlands and agriculture are vital to their livelihoods. According to 2006 statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organization, agriculture remains the principal activity in Bekaa, Akkar and south Lebanon, and it is the major employment opportunity.

El-Haddad said this is why he became a farmer.

" … I live in this region, and you can’t find other jobs," he said.

In the main building of AREC, hangs a portrait of Samuel Wheeler Edgecombe, the first dean of agriculture at AUB, and multiple "Agriculture Olympics" trophies are proudly on display in the main office. This building is one where agriculture juniors Rewa El Seblani and Peter Abrahamian have classes.

El Seblani is from the Bekaa, and she said her parents and brother encouraged her to get involved with agriculture.

El Seblani said in her family's community, every house has a family garden in its backyard.

"It’s very rewarding when you see what you get," she said.

Abrahamian said one of the problems throwing farmers onto the roads is the reliance Lebanon has on importing its goods.

The FAO price index in 2008 rose by 24 percent above 2007’s, according to the State of Agricultural Commodity Markets by the FAO in 2009. Most Arab countries import at least 50 percent of the food calories consumed, according to 2009 information from the FAO. Because of these factors, the cost of food has gone up significantly because it now costs more to import.

More and more people are leaving rural areas where farming happens and going to areas outside of Lebanon or near cities to make more money, Abrahamian said. He said it is sad to see them leave, and people in the agriculture sector are devastated.

"People look at it [agriculture] like it’s a bad thing," El Seblani said. "They look down on it."

From 1958 to 1962, Lebanon’s total population was 2,009,000, and 1,090,000 made up the rural population. In 2008, Lebanon’s total population was 4,194,000, and 546,000 people made up the rural population (13 percent of the total population), according to data from the 2010 FAO AQUASTAT.

Also according to the AQUASTAT, from 2003 to 2007, 1,505,000 made up the total economically active population, and 34,000 made up the total economically active in agriculture. This is less than 3 percent of the total economically active population.

These realities do not encourage students to stay in AUB’s agriculture major.

The department has six majors: agribusiness, agriculture, food science and management, landscape design and ecosystem management, nutrition and dietetics, and veterinary sciences.

Tharwat Haddad, student records officer in the faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, said although the numbers of students enrolled to major in agriculture are not declining, those numbers are deceiving.

Haddad said students apply for enrollment in the Agriculture and Food Sciences department because it is easier to get into than some, and they will not stay agriculture majors for long.

Agriculture students who do not get accepted to the business school will go into agribusiness, she said.

Haddad said the agriculture major could eventually be removed if people continue this trend, and it may switch to a three-year program instead of four.

"We need agriculture students," she said. "Lots of companies are asking for agriculture, and we don’t have agriculture students."

AUB has a student body of more than 7,800, according to its website, and during the 2009-10 school year, 769 students graduated from the Agricultural and Food Sciences department, according to data supplied by the department.

El Seblani said people in Lebanon do not realize how necessary agriculture is to livelihoods.

"We have to feed people," she said.

El Seblani said the decline of interest and money in the agricultural field in Lebanon would not drive her out, like it has some.

"Of course I want to stay here," she said. "It’s my country."