Amidst the worsening socio-economic conditions in Lebanon, local farmers and agricultural cooperatives have been facing rising costs of production coupled with diminished incomes, which has fueled growing communal tensions over limited income-generation opportunities. In response, USAID’s Community Support Program (CSP) has supported six cooperatives (COOPs) across Lebanon by providing equipment to expand their production and increase income generation for hundreds of farming households. To sustain this assistance and enhance the COOPs’ management and revenue streams, CSP also trained COOP members on food quality and processing, business and marketing plans, branding and visibility, packaging, sales, and building effective market linkages. CSP also recently established a Community of Practice aimed at improving the COOPs’ sales by sharing best practices and lessons learned and connecting them to new markets and selling points.
Between December 16 and 18, 2022, CSP supported four of its beneficiary COOPs to participate in a Christmas market held at The Backyard Hazmieh in Beirut, presenting an important opportunity for the COOPs to increase their product sales, gain brand recognition, and build linkages to new markets. As a direct outcome of this support, the four COOPs increased their revenues by selling their products over the three-day Christmas market, which will go directly towards supporting the families of COOP members ahead of the holiday season. “I came here to support local products. I believe people should always buy local products to support people in rural areas especially when the products are organic. This is the first time I see innovative mouneh (preserved goods) with great packaging and branding. I strongly invite people to come and support. Buy local!” Nadine Saaibe, Dekweneh resident and new customer.