Leveraging the Lebanese Legume Food System to Promote Adherence to the Sustainable Food-Based Dietary Guidelines

Abstract

Background: Sustainable healthy diets and Sustainable Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (SFBDGs) are increasingly promoted as a response to the interconnected challenges of diet-related non-communicable diseases, environmental degradation, and inequities in access to nutritious foods. In Lebanon, this agenda is reflected in the launch of the national SFBDGs by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), which recommend increased consumption of plant based foods, including a target intake of 100 g of cooked legumes per adult per day, yet current mean intakes remain below this level despite the central role of legumes in Lebanese culinary traditions and their prominence in national nutrition and agricultural strategies.

Objective: This thesis examines the Lebanese chickpea and lentil food systems to understand how the food supply chain, food environment, and consumer behavior collectively influence legume availability, accessibility, and consumption and to identify context specific entry points to increase legume consumption in line with the Lebanese SFBDGs.

Methodology: A desk-based food system mapping and narrative synthesis was conducted applying the 2017 High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) Nutrition and Food Systems framework, drawing on a comprehensive desk review of peer reviewed literature, policy and strategy documents, technical reports, national data sources, and value chain information, with evidence organized according to the HLPE domains of food supply chain, food environment, and consumer behavior while noting relevant external drivers and system outcomes.

Results: The mapping showed that chickpeas and lentils account for most pulse production and availability in Lebanon, yet domestic output is highly fragmented and covers only a small share of national requirements, leaving around 86–95% of demand covered by imports, exposing the system to global price and supply shocks. Recent economic collapse and conflict related damage in key producing regions have further weakened the production base. Within the food environment, legumes remain present in markets, but rising food and energy prices and long preparation times reduce their effective affordability, accessibility, and appeal. At the consumer level, nutrition transition, time constraints, and gaps in food literacy and cooking skills, particularly among younger and economically vulnerable groups, contribute to the displacement of traditional legume based dishes by more convenient, energy dense, and processed foods, even though legumes remain culturally valued. Taken together, these constraints reveal key actionable entry points to support SFBDGs implementation, including: in the food supply chain, strengthening seed systems and extension services, improving post harvest handling, storage, and quality control, and supporting small scale processing of chickpea and lentil based products; in the food environment, expanding the availability and price competitiveness of ready to eat legume products and integrating legumes into public procurement and institutional food services; and at the consumer level, enhancing food literacy, cooking skills, and behavior change initiatives that promote legumes as convenient, affordable, and desirable staples.

Conclusions: The findings show that the gap between current legume intake and SFBDGs recommendations in Lebanon is driven by structural constraints across the food supply chain, food environment, and consumer sphere, rather than by individual choice alone. By applying a food system perspective to the SFBDGs, the thesis generates concrete entry points for action that link production, markets, and consumer practices. It underscores the need for participatory research and attention to equity along the legume value chain and positions chickpeas and lentils as a strategic lever for aligning health, environmental sustainability, and affordability in Lebanon.