Southern Lebanon Agriculture Faces Crisis as Conflict Destroys 22.5% of Farmland

's Agriculture Minister Nizar Hani briefed President Joseph Aoun on Thursday that military attacks have damaged more than 22.5% of agricultural land in southern Lebanon—over 56,000 hectares—according to a presidency statement released after their meeting at the palace east of Beirut. For cooperatives already threading fresh produce through border logistics, the figure reads less like a statistic than a triage map: where orchards stand, where cold-chain capacity lives, and what the next export window can actually carry.

What 56,000 hectares looks like on the ground

In the south, that land holds citrus, olives, bananas, and the apple and grape blocks that Hani noted are seeing abundant yields this season. Walk a damaged block and the signs arrive in sequence—scorched canopy edges, shattered trellising, irrigation mains ruptured beyond quick repair, and soil compaction from ordnance that reshapes drainage for seasons afterward. Microbial life in the topsoil is the slowest to recover, and export certification pays close attention to residue testing and orchard history. A cooperative trying to re-list a plot for international buyers will need documented rehabilitation, not just visual recovery.

The funding pipeline, channel by channel

Hani confirmed a joint project with the World Bank worth roughly $40 million aimed at damage response. Between $6 million and $7 million is currently being directed to farmers as direct agricultural support and assistance. The Agriculture Ministry's 2027 budget, he added, includes additions for infrastructure at land crossings and the port—modest, in his framing, but aimed at logistics. Cooperatives should be asking which channel reaches the packhouse versus the field, and what paperwork each requires. Direct farmer support tends to disburse faster but rarely covers cooperative-level infrastructure; the larger envelope moves slower but can rebuild grading lines, cold storage, and crossing facilities that smallholders depend on. International institutions, led by the World Bank, have classified Lebanon's economic crisis that began in 2019 among the most severe since the mid-19th century, which shapes how quickly any of this money can move.

Export lanes that could absorb this season's yield

Two market signals sit alongside the damage figures. Hani noted that the Saudi market is now open to Lebanese agricultural products, and that a land route through Saudi Arabia toward other Gulf countries has been reopened—Riyadh resumed Lebanese exports in June following a 2021 import ban tied to Captagon smuggling. The minister also pointed to potential gains from improved relations with the UAE, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, alongside development plans Lebanon is preparing with regional partners. For cooperatives, this is the practical pivot: if Gulf demand is genuinely accessible by land, routing decisions for the surplus apple and grape harvest need to be locked in before the window narrows. A new round of US-sponsored negotiations is expected this month, with Rome mentioned as a venue, though Lebanon has not officially announced a date.