The 'Strengthening the role of rural women in agro-food processing in the Bekaa region' project

Duration

The project, implemented by RMF, was launched on the 24th of August 2007 and was concluded on the 30th of April 2008.

Funding

The Italian Embassy, through the Italian Cooperation – ROSS Emergency Program (a 15 million euro post-conflict rehabilitation program started after the 2006 war and financed 37 projects in over 100 locations in Lebanon)

Main partners

The “Union of Agricultural cooperatives in Deir Al Ahmar and neighboring villages” (consisting of 14 cooperatives)
The “Union of Production and Artisanal Cooperatives in the Bekaa and Neighboring Villages” (consisting of 9 cooperatives).

Description

The Bekaa region is the largest agricultural region in Lebanon, but only 35% of the farm holders are living from their land. Farmers are selling their crops as commodities, without adding value. The local Cooperatives have not been able to play their vital role in developing the Agricultural and the Agro-food sectors. They need support to be able to assist the farmers properly. The present project helped these cooperatives to support the farmers in the following vital matters:
Transforming agricultural commodities into agro-food products.
Absorbing excess crops.
Providing employment to the non-productive section of the population.
Generating extra income to the family and consequently increase gross income of the region.
Initiating the momentum for agro-food production.
Providing training to the population and especially women in the safe production of food.
Assisting members in introducing their product on the market.
Seeking external know how in food production, quality and marketing.
Facilitating the introduction of Women to small businesses without disturbing  the local family traditions.
Act as a sort of incubators for the future development of larger projects in the food business. 40 stockbreeders of the dairy cooperative of Zgharta.

Objectives of project

Improving the performances of the coops in the region of Baalbeck-Hermel
Assisting the coops in the improvement of the product quality, which should facilitate their acceptance by local and  International consumers.
Facilitating the products access to International markets though complying with the prevailing rules, regulations and market specificities of the destination countries.

The project's activities

1- Providing capacity building and training in the fields of Networking, Team Effectiveness, computer data processing and personalized accounting.

2- The establishment of a quality control center that offers:
Assessment in quality assurance and identification of physical, chemical and micro-biological tests.
Rehabilitation of existing laboratory, with equipment suitable for the relevant analysis.
Provide laboratory training  to QA operators, on specific quality control tests.
Training on food product labeling from regulatory and  and marketing aspects in order to upgrade existing labels and rend them compliant with International labeling standards.

3- Coop production specialization:
Assessment of selected  Coops in terms of food product produced and available capacities.
Training of operators on basic Food safety techniques.
Establish relevant QA procedures based on the existing products and according to GMP.
Training on proper preservation and storage of food selected food products according to GMP.

4- The elaboration of a manual for food labeling and requirements, and improving Coop product labels: The manual for labeling will include EU, US and Australian Regulations as well as  CODEX.      

5- The creation of a product showroom to facilitate marketing of the food products of the coops. The showroom will cover 150-200 square meters and be professionally decorated.

Results

Improving the functioning of cooperatives in the BEKAA.
Creating product complimentarily between Agro- Food cooperatives.
Establishing a centralized quality assurance system.
Improving market access fort the food products produced by Coops.