The Enhancement of the Specialized Local Food System in Lebanon via Rural/Urban & Rural/Rural Linkages

Abstract

The study was conducted in Lebanon during the first and second quarters of 2021, after almost two years of political and financial unrest, and within a year through a global pandemic, to understand the situation of the Lebanese Local Food System. The research analyzed the economic practices, existing legislations, trends, evolution and the impact of the financial meltdown in a local food system that is nesting rural small scale producers form different categories. It identified, furthermore, the challenges of the Lebanese small scale producers and exposed their willingness in changing their operations to properly adapt. The rural/rural and rural/urban linkages have seen an evolution in the post-meltdown era, detecting shifts in Lebanese nested markets and a change in consumers’ behavior that suggest the creation of a New Rurality. That shift in paradigm is still, however, greatly affected by the international-national-local equity of distribution in developmental aid. The Lebanese local food system, maintained by the rural small scale producers is in dire need to a reform that allows it to move from a neglected informal status, to a constructed semi-informal framework. In order to succeed, this new framework needs to take into consideration the definition of agro-food smallholders, the logistical and intellectual needs/education that contribute to their business optimization and finally, the equity of subsidies distribution to make sure that even the ones not showing characteristics of entrepreneurship are benefiting.