Agrarian transition and food security in a Lebanese village.

Abstract

Background: Lebanon’s development trajectory has been severely impacted by political challenges internally and from abroad resulting in an urban-biased government disassociated from the country’s rich agricultural history. This disassociation contributes to waves of agrarian transition in response to challenging socio-economic situations in which rural people have few options to avoid poverty and food and nutrition insecurity other than migration and livelihood diversification. Both strategies are common in Lebanon and result in drastic food system changes from ‘traditional’ localized production to further integration into the global trade regime. As agrarians become more integrated in this market, diets change and often rely on more imported, often processed, food that while rich in calories is often significantly less nutritious that what was produced locally. A “metabolic rift” accompanies the processes of livelihood diversification away from agriculture and diet change as the traditional nutrient cycling between agrarians and their is reduced. Literature on the motivations for smallholders’ diversification, diversification pathways, and outcomes is extensive in regards to poverty reduction and market integration. However, the results vary on diversifications’ impacts on poverty reduction; its impacts on food security are inconclusive and vary depending on the food security measurement and whether or not nutrition is adequately included as a factor of food security Objectives: This research examined how rural, non-farm livelihood diversification has im-pacted the food and nutrition security of smallholder farmers in comparison to those with non-agricultural livelihoods. The study also quantifies the extent of the metabolic rift and livelihood diversification in a rural Lebanese village. Methods: The original study was conducted over the summer of 2018 in Batloun, the Chouf, Lebanon with participants from a smallholder farming association and local small entrep