The Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) and the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Canada are cooperating on a food assistance project in 12 regions of the Baalbek-Hermel Governate in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis is affecting its food security, particularly affecting vulnerable populations like Lebanese residents, Syrian refugees, Palestine refugees in Lebanon (PRL), and Palestine refugees from Syria. Between October 2023 and March 2024, 1.05 million people were facing acute food insecurity, with a further deterioration expected between April and September 2024. Rising inflation, currency depreciation, income losses, cuts to humanitarian food assistance, and increasing tensions negatively impact access to food.
In Baalbek-Hermel, food security at the household and regional levels has been severely undermined. Households relying on agricultural production and seasonal or regular employment in small and medium enterprises as their primary income source have been profoundly impacted by climate change, violent conflicts, the arrival of Syrian refugees, the compounding effect of COVID-19, and the relentless deterioration of the economic landscape. In response the project will provide six cash payments of CAD 20.50 per person per month (phase 1) and six cash payments of CAD 27.40 per person per month (phase 2) up to a total of five people per household.
The project will work with 345 households comprising 1,722 individuals.