Olive Harvesting Campaign

Duration of the project
November-December 2006

Partners
Cooperative Housing Foundation (CHF)
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Geographic areas covered by the project
Chouf, Batroun, Koura and Zgharta Cazas.

Beneficiaries
over 800 farmers (olive tree growers)
about 8,100 day/cash-for-work opportunities

Background
The olive harvesting season in Lebanon is in November and December. This year as a result of the war, the sector faced heavy challenges due to the difficult economical situation and the scarcity of foreign man power.

Description
The project aims to provide assistance to olive farmers in harvesting their orchards through increased access to harvesting equipment that was lost during the recent conflict. Furthermore, the project matches underemployed community members with olive farmers to increase the availability of labor while decreasing labor costs. As a result, the project will directly benefit 800 local farmers in harvesting their produce and maintaining their livelihood. In addition, 300 individuals will benefit from cash-for-work opportunities during a period of 27 days.

The project initiative will improve the ability of conflict-affected farmers to rapidly resume gainful economic activity in a sustainable manner.

Details of the project
Teams, consisting of a supervisor and 10 harvesters from the local community, are formed to operate harvesting machines and perform other harvesting functions in each of the four regions. In addition, an engineer is assigned in each region to supervise and monitor the harvesting of olives in each region, as well as to ensure the proper use of the harvesting machines.

Each team is trained on the harvesting process, as well as on the safe use of the harvesting machines and equipment. It is estimated that this form of harvesting will produce 1,800 kg of olives per day, per 3 dunums (0.3 hectares) of land.

The targeted beneficiaries under the Olive Harvesting project are 800 small to medium olive farmers (3 dunums = 0.3 hectares/ farmer). In addition, the project will benefit the people who were affected by the conflict on the economic and socio-economical level and left unemployed, or without access to a means of income due to the high level of destruction.

RMF will ensure that newly trained olive harvesters have the necessary synergies with workers, cooperatives and associations to be able to participate in future harvests. In addition, harvesting equipment that is purchased to replace equipment lost during the recent conflict will become the property of the cooperatives and farmers' associations. RMF will work with the cooperatives and associations to ensure they are able to maintain the new equipment.