In Lebanon, community-led initiatives try to fill the gaps amid the country’s many crises

George Tekle, once a taxi driver, turned to cultivating the land in his hometown, Majdel Meouch, located in Lebanon’s Chouf region, during the crisis.

“We need to make ends meet,” he told L’Orient-Le Jour.

The rising costs of imported fertiliser, however, strained his budget.

Luckily, one day, he bumped into a group of young people passionate about agroecology. These people were part of a nonprofit called Jibal, which runs a support programme for farmers transitioning to agroecology. The programme leverages emergency funds sent in the aftermath of the explosion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that occurred in the port of Beirut in 2020.

With Jibal’s assistance, Tekle revitalised the local village co-op. Three additional farmers also adopted the integrated method and reduced their use of pesticides to a minimum.

“My parsley thrives solely on water from the Damour River,” Tekle said as he handed a customer four fresh bunches at Nation Station in Geitawi, Beirut, where he sells his products.

Nation Station is a former petrol station transformed into a solidarity kitchen after the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

“The crisis presented an opportunity,” explained Jad Awada, one of Jibal’s team members and a former executive with the auditing firm Deloitte. “After the explosion, I was shot in the face by a policeman during a...

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