(APN) | Lebanon

May 2, 2025

Building on its success in Jordan and Palestine, where it has planted 3,250,000 fruit trees and supported 47,000 farmers, APN has now traveled to Lebanon to plant 2,000 olive trees as part of its new project "Together for Lebanon's Olives". The project was launched on Friday, April 25, 2025 in the capital Beirut in an official ceremony inaugurated by the Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Nizar Hani, and hosted by the Engineers Syndicate in Beirut, in partnership with the Arab Network for Food Sovereignty (ANFS). The project aims to replant uprooted olive groves for farmers whose land and trees were damaged as a result of the Israeli aggression. This inauguration comes to revitalize damaged agricultural lands in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley and aims to contribute to efforts to protect the agricultural and cultural heritage associated with the olive tree, and to promote the concepts of food sovereignty in Lebanon.

APN President Razan Zuayter said, “Tomorrow, Saturday April 26, 2025, a total of 2000 olive trees will take us to southern Lebanon. Our hands will collectively embrace the roots of these trees as they return to their soil, in a national Lebanese Arab campaign that will involve all those who love Lebanon, from all denominations, whether they live in Lebanon or abroad."

The Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Nizar Hani, stated, "Today we have an opportunity in Lebanon to put our hands together to stand by the farmer in the south and revive this sector as well as in all Lebanese regions." He invited agricultural and environmental organizations to join the effort and travel to the south and help inflicted farmers.

For his part, the head of the Engineers Syndicate, Engineer Fadi Hanna, said: "For those who ask how many olive trees were lost, I declare that we lost 70 martyrs from the Engineers Syndicate who sacrificed their lives and paved the ground to protect olive trees. This was the first thing we offered to our olive trees and to Lebanon.” He added that Lebanon has 11,000 farmers inflicted by the barbaric war, lost 750 million dollars in this sector, and witnessed the damage of about 134,000 hectares of agricultural land, which account for 80% of Lebanon's harvest.

Following the inauguration ceremony in Beirut, a mass celebration was held in Qana, South Lebanon, on Saturday, April 26, 2025, to launch a voluntary agricultural activity. The celebration brought together affected farmers and their families, APN, and a number of civil society organizations. The celebration was launched by Minister of Agriculture Hani, Mayor of Qana Mohammad Kresht, and APN Agricultural Advisor Engineer Hassan Al-Jaajaa.

In his speech, Jaajaa decleared, "We came to Lebanon from Amman to fulfill our duty to all those who defend the dignity of our nation, to dedicate our efforts to collectively support inflicted farmers, and to fulfill a small part of our duty towards our people, our land, and our olives. To this end, we launched the ‘Together for Lebanon's Olives’ project to rehabilitate this vital sector and support its economic return, its national dimension, and its historical expansion. After the rehabilitation of olive groves, we intend to support the cultivation of other fruit trees and the rest of the agricultural sector.”

The project also focuses on building long-term strategic partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including academic institutions, municipalities, the private sector, Lebanese communities abroad, and civil society. Currently, the project has brought together the cooperation of local institutions, in particular the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Movement in Lebanon, the Social Economic Action Collective (SEAC), the Lebanese University Task Force, and LOYAC.

The initial launch of the project began last February with the planting of 200 olive trees in a number of farms in the Nabatieh Governorate, marking the beginning of the restoration of the olive sector in southern Lebanon.