Mennonite Central Committee Canada and the Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training (LOST) are partnering on a food assistance project in Hawsh Tal Safiye, Allak, Bouday, Flewa, Iaat, Dar Wasea and Saide villages in Western Baalbek, Lebanon.
Lebanon’s food insecurity crisis is driven by the combined effects of renewed conflict, economic collapse, displacement, inflation, and shrinking humanitarian assistance. Since the March 2026 escalation, damage to infrastructure, disrupted markets, rising fuel and food prices, and reduced livelihood opportunities have weakened household purchasing power and access to food. Nationally, around 1.24 million people are projected to face acute food insecurity between April and August 2026, with the sharpest deterioration in conflict-affected areas. In Baalbek-El Hermel and Western Baalbek, rural poverty, dependence on agriculture, damaged productive assets, restricted land access, and higher input and transport costs have deepened vulnerability.
Although markets remain generally supplied, many households cannot afford sufficient food and increasingly rely on debt, reduced food consumption, asset sales, and other negative coping strategies. Displacement has also strained water, health, housing, and local services, increasing competition over limited resources and heightening social tensions among host and displaced communities.
The project will provide cash transfers of CAD $43 per household plus CAD $14 for each household member up to 5 members via 11 transfers over 12 months. The project will reach 1,474 participants in 310 households.