Akletna community kitchen

The context

Lebanon has been particularly affected by the political and economic crisis, which has pushed more than 80% of the population into poverty. The rapid devaluation and instability of the Lebanese currency, bottlenecks in the supply chain and fuel shortages have led to a spectacular rise in food prices (+332% in June 2022).

While the crisis has affected most of Lebanon's population, marginalised, rural and refugee communities (mainly from Syria and Palestine) have been particularly hard hit. Among these populations, women are particularly affected and vulnerable.

Against this backdrop, the Food Heritage Foundation, a Lebanese organisation dedicated to preserving local culinary traditions, launched the Akletna Community Kitchen in 2020: A network of community kitchens where women from these marginalised communities provide healthy, balanced meals to order for the general public (on site or to take away).

The project

This project has been structured around short, local circuits to achieve a number of key objectives:

• Enable rural communities to promote their products and know-how;
• To enable the urban population to eat properly despite the crisis;
• To ensure the long-term future of Lebanese farms by giving them access to diversified outlets and direct sales, thereby maintaining food security;
• Ensure product traceability for consumers and have a social impact through the act of purchasing;
• Promote the place and emancipation of women in marginalised communities.

From an operational point of view, the network has a central kitchen in Beirut (Zico House), which centralises and assembles orders for redistribution to clients, and satellite kitchens closer to the cooks (in rural and urban areas) where the dishes are prepared.

The products used are supplied by local producers or producer organisations, and the logistics have been optimised to ensure the best possible service between the satellite kitchens and the central kitchen.

The results

Since 2022, the network has expanded to include catering for events and the sale of lunchboxes, the composition of which changes daily, with specific communication campaigns on social networks (Facebook and Instagram).

A little extra

This project benefits from the visibility and technical support of the Food Heritage Foundation (FHF), in particular its partnership with the American University of Beirut. More than 8 of the FHF's initiatives are interlinked and synergies promote their success, such as 'Food and Roots' for the processing and marketing of local produce, working with the development of the 'Souk aal Souk' market for local producers.
They have also received awards and recognition for their initiatives, including

• "Community Engagement Award" from Guelph's Arrell University Food Institute in 2021
• The Ari Ardak initiative was recognised as one of the best innovations in the agricultural system for women and youth during the COVID 19 epidemic.

Sources :
• http://www.cas.gov.lb/index.php/economic-statistics-en/cpi-en
• https://food-heritage.org/akleh-community-kitchen/

This initiative sheet was written by Gersende Gruget, a student at Bordeaux Sciences Agro (2022-2023) in January 2023.

Last modification : 30 Dec 2023.