Catholic groups in Lebanon launch agricultural projects among young people

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The Maronite Patriarchate and the Jesuit University of Lebanon are promoting agricultural training projects among young people to help feed people suffering from a severe economic crisis as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

The initiative helps people cultivate small plots of land even in urban areas to produce food – fruits and vegetables – for personal and family consumption.

Various other religious groups are also involved in directly supporting the initiative to help people engage in agriculture to secure food supplies for themselves and their families in this time of crisis.

On June 2, the Lebanese Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite Patriarch, participated in the inaugural meeting to launch the agricultural training project “Land of your treasure”, launched by the association “Club Liban Vert” and reserved for young people interested in development of agricultural production initiatives.

The initiative, sponsored by the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, is also supported by the Diane Foundation for Sustainable Development of the Saint Joseph Jesuit University in Beirut, as well as the Maronite Patriarchal Center for Human Development, made know Agenzia Fides.

During the project presentation meeting, Father Tawfiq Bou Hader, director of the center, defined community initiatives for the return to food production of young people as an important sign of their desire to rediscover the link with identity and treasures of his nation.

Cardinal Rai also appealed to the Lebanese people who live abroad, urging them not to lose their roots and to help the resumption of the agricultural activities carried out.

“The house which loses its mother becomes difficult to reunite”, declared Cardinal Rai, recalling that “if we lose the link with our homeland, then it will be difficult to meet us as Lebanese. For this reason, we are always encouraged to take care of our land “.

Lebanon has been hit hard by a financial collapse since the start of 2020 with unemployment, central bank restrictions on account withdrawals and a precariously unstable Lebanese pound. The COVID-19 pandemic with 1,306 locally confirmed cases and 28 associated deaths, has only exacerbated economic problems and the shortage of food and other basic needs.

The Lebanese pound has been pegged to the dollar at 1,500 since 1997, but the country’s worst economic crisis in decades has seen its value drop by more than 50%.

About 45 percent of the Lebanese population now lives below the poverty line. Tens of thousands of people have lost their jobs or seen their wages cut.

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