Exploring the potential role of urban agriculture as a community engagement strategy in universities during a food security crisis: the American university of Beirut as a case study

Abstract

In light of the compounded crises Lebanon has been going through since 2019, food security concerns have increasingly grown amongst Lebanese people who have resorted to an array of coping strategies. The economic downfall and the consequent depreciation of the Lebanese pound (LBP), hyperinflation, decreasing purchasing power, COVID-19 pandemic, and the 4th of August, 2020 Beirut Port explosion have complicated the life of locals and exacerbated the governmental void. Urban agriculture (UA) became an attractive solution for locals who wished to increase their food intake, or even obtain produce without resorting to a hyperinflated market. Local initiatives have burgeoned in Lebanon sporadically but have created local knowledge hubs in some neighborhoods where interest in UA has grown. UA has been employed as a coping strategy in areas hard-hit by crises, like Cuba and Palestine, where results and efficiency depended on legitimacy, governmental support, and availability of urban land. In the global north, UA has been employed by several university campuses as a development and sustainability strategy for neighboring communities. This research exercise uses an extensive literature review of the previously mentioned examples, as well as a thorough analysis, to generate recommendations for the American University of Beirut (AUB) to achieve an effective UA community engagement strategy as a crisis response in Lebanon. The findings show a considerable potential for this to happen, given proper governance, agency, and dissemination of UA knowledge and principles.