UN worried about impact of latest Lebanon war on agriculture

The deputy director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization tells AFP she is “deeply concerned” about the impact of the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict on agriculture in south Lebanon.

The latest war “puts additional pressure on farmers and rural communities that, frankly, were already facing considerable hardships,” says the FAO’s Beth Bechdol.

“We’re deeply concerned” about the situation in south Lebanon, where agriculture is “at the heart” of livelihoods, she says in an interview in Beirut.

“It is our best assessment that 56,000 hectares, which is more than 22 percent of Lebanon’s agricultural land, has been reported as affected or damaged,” including burned or physically damaged, she says.

Amid the fighting, which began when Hezbollah attacked Israel in March in support of its backer, Iran, Israeli forces have been carrying out widespread demolitions affecting villages and farmland. The IDF holds a buffer zone in southern Lebanon.

“Farmers and their families are no longer able to be connected to their agricultural land,” Bechdol says, noting that the conflict has also “disrupted markets and reduced access” to essentials for food production, including fertilizers.