FAO supports Lebanon agriculture sector

Lebanon's agriculture sector occupies a curious place in the national economy: modest in headline numbers, yet outsized in importance for rural livelihoods and food security. According to FAO, agriculture contributes around 9 percent of GDP and accounts for roughly 4 percent of total employment, rising to about 13 percent of GDP once the food-processing industry is included. In rural strongholds such as Akkar, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon, farming forms the backbone of local economies, at times generating up to 80 percent of regional economic output. The country also has one of the highest shares of arable land per capita in the Arab world, spread across roughly 200,000 hectares of farmland.

Despite this potential, the sector has spent the past several years absorbing one shock after another. The current conflict added a far more destructive layer, with intense fighting concentrated in the country's most agriculturally productive regions southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley, through late 2024 and continuing sporadically into 2026.

The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture took part in the proceedings of the 181st session of the Council of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), held in Rome The participation comes as Lebanon currently holds the chairmanship of FAO's Near East regional group for 2026, a role it took over from Kuwait earlier this year.

The toll on farmland and farmers

A joint assessment by FAO, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Council for Scientific Research-Lebanon, using FAO's DIEM-Impact methodology, found that the conflict between October 2023 and November 2024 caused about USD 118 million in direct damage and USD 586 million in production losses across crops, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture, a combined toll of roughly USD 704 million. A separate World Bank assessment put agricultural losses and damages at around USD 1.2 billion, part of an overall USD 8.5 billion in conflict-related damage to Lebanon's economy, with agriculture, commerce, and tourism together accounting for 77 percent of total economic losses.

On the ground, Lebanon's Ministry of Agriculture reports that more than 22.5 percent of the country's agricultural land, around 51,956 hectares, has been damaged. In the south, roughly 78 percent of farmers have been forced to stop working altogether, and displacement from affected farming areas has reached 76.8 percent. Independent field research points to similarly grim findings: more than 36,000 farmers affected, with about 71 percent unable to safely access their land, and crop losses concentrated in olive groves (57 percent damaged), fruit trees and vineyards (37 percent), and field crops and poultry (around 30 percent). Some areas struck with white phosphorus munitions, covering an estimated 5.14 million square meters, face long-term soil contamination that could affect food production for years to come.

Food security under pressure

These losses are translating directly into hunger risk. As early as 2023, around 15 percent of the Lebanese population was projected to face high levels of acute food insecurity. The outlook for 2026 is more alarming still: preliminary Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) estimates for April-August 2026 suggest that approximately 1.24 million people in Lebanon could face acute food insecurity, driven by the combined effects of conflict, displacement, and economic decline.

Recovery needs and FAO's response

To stabilize and rebuild the sector, the FAO–MoA assessment estimates total recovery and reconstruction needs at USD 263 million, with USD 95 million identified as priority funding for 2025/26 alon, covering everything from restoring irrigation systems and replanting destroyed orchards to restocking livestock and rehabilitating fisheries.

It is against this backdrop that Lebanon's agricultural crisis took center stage at the 181st session of the FAO Council, held in Rome from June 8 to 12, 2026. The Lebanese delegation, led by Ministry of Agriculture Director General Louis Lahoud, presented these figures to FAO member states and urged that Lebanon's experience be treated as a global case study on how armed conflict devastates agriculture, food security, and rural development. On the sidelines of the Council, FAO Deputy Director-General Maurizio Martina informed the delegation that FAO and Italy had approved an emergency support project for Lebanon's agricultural sector, part of a broader effort to keep farmers on their land and sustain food production as the country navigates one of the most difficult chapters in its agricultural history.