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There is a clear need for sustainable rural development in Lebanon. Remittances from migration and emigration form the basis of local rural economy. Neglect and over-exploitation are the main natural resource management strategies. Agriculture, the main resource management strategy in the rural areas, is currently at a near standstill, due its poor economic viability. This is mainly due to the lack of extension, value-adding processing, and marketing.
There have been a large number of development projects in rural Lebanon. Success has, at best, been qualified. Most of the projects have not addressed development through an integrated model. Rather, they have implemented costly infrastructure or capacity building programs independently from each other. Few have included the creation of tangible economic revenues as part of the project outputs. This project draws on the fragmented success of rural development projects, and aims at closing the loop between material assistance, capacity building, and the improvement of local economy.
The goal of this project is to provide a model of integrated village development in El Qaraaoun village, Cluster Rachaiya, South Lebanon, based on cooperation between academia and local community with the aim to address natural resource management, environmental degradation and better the chances for sustainable development. This pilot will establish the necessary human and material infrastructure to serve as a hub for facilitating development in the Cluster Region. Activities will be implemented over the period extending between December 2001-June 2003. It is expected that these activities will result in the creation of a development momentum that will help drawing in the other villages of the clusters. The facilities that will be created by the project will be used for implementing similar projects in surrounding villages.
Mercy Corps / Lebanon program granted to the American University of Beirut the sum of $685,000 to undertake this project, under the USDA supported Rural Community Development Cluster project.
Implementing Agency
The American University of Beirut is a private, independent non-sectarian institution of higher learning, established in 1866, that functions under a charter from the State of New York. The University offers a rigorous curriculum in the American liberal arts tradition. The language of instruction is English. AUB is coeducational and open to all qualified applicants without regard to race, religion, nationality, or political affiliation. The 6100 students study in over 100 undergraduate programs in six faculties leading to Bachelor's Master's and the MD degrees.
The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS) at the American University of Beirut (AUB), has been active in teaching and research aimed at fostering the participatory management of environmental resources. It has been awarded a number grants from international donors, especially USAID, in order to contribute to capacity building for sustainable development. The FAFS draws on the expertise of its faculty members, as well as on the Interfaculty Graduate Environmental Sciences Program (IGESP), the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) and the Environment Core Laboratory (ECL).
FAFS is committed to development research, outreach and capacity building. Its teaching and research are focused primarily on addressing problems of the Middle East region, such as sustainable agriculture, water resources and desertification. It values the role of the local community as an indispensable partner in research and education. Its main goal is to contribute to sustainable development by fostering citizenship and by forming environmental professionals and researchers.
The FAFS draws on a number of state of the art resources, such as the Agricultural Research and Education Center (AREC), a 100 ha research farm located in the Bekaa, and the Environment Core Laboratory. The latter is the best equipped and most reliable environmental analysis laboratory in Lebanon.
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