Foreign support to cooperative development in Akkar & Tyre

The Minister of Trade and Economy Alan Hakim toured Akkar accompanied by the Resident Representative of UNDP in Lebanon Ross Mountain, representative of the Economic Development Agency in the North Simon Bashawati, Coordinator of UNDP projects in the North Alan Shatry and a number of program staff. The first stopover was at the premises of the Cooperative Association for the Manufacture of Agricultural Production in the town of Fneidik which was equipped with high-tech solar energy operated fruit drying processors, and a truck to transport production to various markets. These donations were part of a German grant channeled through the Lebanese Fund for Advancement and UNDP, in partnership with the Ministry of Social Affairs and within the framework of a program aiming at supporting Lebanese communities hosting people displaced from Syria. The delegation was received by Fneidik Mayor Khaldoun Taleb who underscored that that while his town produces over one million boxes of apple annually; only 20% of production finds its way to markets and at relatively low prices. Some 40 thousand boxes, he said, remain stockpiled in a cold storage house managed by Imkan Association and located in the town. On a similar note, French Ambassador to Lebanon Patice Pauli inaugurated yesterday in the southern town of Srifa, Tyre, a new composting unit which is part of the ‘Daman 2’ project and aiming to support olive oil cooperatives in South Lebanon. The project is financed by the French Development Agency, in cooperation with the UNIFIL French battalion, and is implemented by the Association for the Development of Rural Capacities and AGRI France. (Al Diyar, 10 June 2015)