Lebanon: A quarter of the country’s population faces food insecurity

This came in the forward-looking analysis of the Integrated Interim Classification of Food Security published by the Ministry of Agriculture on Wednesday, in cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme.

The representative of the World Food Program in Lebanon, Alison Aumann-Laoi, said that the state of fragility that was warned of in the previous analysis “has unfortunately been proven true.” She added: “Hard-won gains are quickly being evaporated. Families who were barely getting by now face the risk of sliding back into crisis, as conflict, displacement and rising costs combine to make food increasingly unaffordable.”

For her part, the representative of the FAO in Lebanon, Noura Araba Haddad, indicated that the results of the analysis confirm that the accumulated shocks undermine agricultural livelihoods and negatively affect food security. “Which highlights the urgent need to provide emergency agricultural aid to support farmers and prevent further deterioration.”

The agricultural sector, a vital source of food and income, has been severely damaged and has yet to recover from the repercussions of the conflict that erupted in 2024. Factors such as damage to farmland, large-scale displacement of farming families, restricted access to agricultural areas, rising input costs, and continuing insecurity are holding back production. The risks become more acute as the end of the spring planting season approaches.

The Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Nizar Hani, said that maintaining food security in Lebanon “It is a shared national and international responsibility, and investment in the agricultural sector remains essential to ensuring stability and enhancing the ability of local communities to withstand recurring crises.”

At the same time, high inflation and food prices continue to erode citizens’ purchasing power, while declining humanitarian aid and funding shortfalls limit families’ ability to manage their livelihoods and cope with hardship.

In the absence of reliable humanitarian assistance, improved access to affected areas, and stabilization of the security and economic environment, food insecurity is likely to worsen and deepen in the coming months.