Lebanon has a Mediterranean-type climate characterized by hot and dry summers (June to September) and cool and rainy winters (December to mid-March). Planting of cereal crops typically takes place from October into January, with the harvest from May through August, whereas the olive harvest typically starts in October and ends in November.
Lebanon primarily relies on food imports, which provide around 80 percent of its consumption, with local production providing up to 30 percent of national consumption requirements. Nevertheless, agriculture is still an important livelihood for many poor households. Lebanon’s main agriculture areas are the Coastal Strip, Akkar plain with upper Mount Lebanon, Beqaa Valley, the Mountainous region, the Western slope of the anti-Lebanon range, and the Southern Hills. The main crops grown include cereals (mainly wheat and barley), fruits and vegetables, olives, grapes, and tobacco, while pastoralist households engage mainly in sheep and goat herding. Tobacco and figs are grown in the South, citrus fruits and bananas along the coast, olives in the North and around the Chouf Mountains, and fruits and vegetables in the Beqaa Valley. More exotic crops include avocados grown near Byblos and hashish (a major cash crop in the Beqaa Valley). However, over the last five decades, increasing urbanization and mismanagement of natural resources have diminished available arable land for agriculture.
Fruit and olive trees occupy around 45 percent of the total cultivated area and have increased over the years. Greenhouse production has also significantly increased over the past years. Most agricultural production is concentrated in the Beqaa Valley, which accounts for around 40 percent of total cultivated land. The Beqaa Valley also hosts around 60 percent of the total area used for industrial crops (including sugar beet, tobacco, and vineyards) and nearly 60 percent of the total area used for cereal production. The North (Akkar and Koura regions) hosts around 40 percent of the area used for olive production in the country.
Farmers, like other occupations in the local economy, continue to cope with the impacts of the protracted financial and economic crisis. Agricultural inputs, including seeds, fuel, fertilizers, plant protection materials, and feed are available on markets in adequate quantities, but their access continues to be constrained by high prices. Up to 2019, credit was provided by input distributors, but is now almost nonexistent.
Since the start of the financial crisis in 2019, farmers have been concerned that farm gate prices are very low and not covering production costs. Although there are cases of substituting imported agricultural inputs with domestic ones, such as using smaller amounts of imported chemical fertilizers and relying more on manure from cows, goats, and chickens or using domestically produced seeds, most of the agricultural inputs are still imported. Prices of imported inputs are denominated in USD, using the exchange rate on the parallel market. In contrast, prices of agricultural outputs are denominated in Lebanese pounds, without accounting for any depreciation of the Lebanese pound vis-à-vis the USD on the parallel market, resulting in significant discrepancies in earnings for farmers.
The enduring economic crisis in Lebanon—sustained by concurrent shocks including the Beirut Port explosion and the COVID-19 pandemic—has led to the inevitable devaluation of the Lebanese pound (LBP), which lost 95 percent of its value against the US dollar since 2019. The country’s deepening economic crisis, exacerbated by political deadlock, has severely affected the agricultural sector, leading to increased costs for vital imports like seeds and fertilizers. The economic strain intensifies preexisting difficulties for farmers, encompassing escalating debts and inefficient agricultural practices. As a result, farmers are witnessing declining revenues and facing difficulties in meeting their loan repayment obligations.