The Food Heritage Foundation

Context

Families in Lebanon are finding it increasingly difficult to access nutritious food, according to WFP's report on food security and the vulnerability of the Lebanese population. They are forced to resort to strategies such as spending less on health care and education, or withdrawing their children from school altogether.

According to the UN, 1.29 million Lebanese and 700,000 Syrian refugees are currently at risk of food insecurity in Lebanon (as of January 2023).

The Food Heritage Foundation was established in 2013 in response to the economic crisis affecting the country and to promote a more sustainable, resilient and equitable food system. The Food Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organisation that promotes local heritage as a lever for economic development. It aims to revitalise and highlight traditional cuisines and promote the livelihoods of rural producers and processors by creating rural-urban linkages.

Project

Two main projects bring together the association's many activities:

• Maximising the resilience of smallholder farmers' short-term livelihoods in times of crisis: funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Agriculture and Rural Empowerment (ARE) activity, the project aims to strengthen the resilience and adaptive capacity of farmers and rural communities in the face of the combined effects of rising food and agricultural input prices, economic downturn, climate change and natural disasters. The project takes into account the three pillars of sustainability: socio-territorial (gender mainstreaming, transparent and equitable cooperation mechanisms), agro-ecological (reliable and safe agricultural inputs, preservation of ecosystems, climate change mitigation) and economic (profitability, fair distribution, equity);
• Responding to the Socio-Economic Crisis: "Promoting Self-Sufficiency and Improving Production": The project promotes self-sufficiency for vulnerable communities and aims to improve local agricultural production and food processing. The project is implemented by the Lebanese League for Women in Business (LLWB) in partnership with AUB's Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU), the Food Heritage Foundation (FHF), Berytech and Zico House as part of the Ardi Ardi Ardak National Food Security Initiative.

In addition to these two major projects, the association is also active on a more ad hoc basis. During the containment and aftermath of the silo explosion disaster in the port of Beirut in 2020, the association cooked and delivered 3,002 hot meals to the underprivileged with the help of 39 volunteers and 26 volunteers from the ESDU and FHF teams, as well as food supplies from several kitchens, including the kitchen of The Green Van, run by the Mada Association.

The association also launched a farmers' market, Souk aal Souk, in 2013 in collaboration with the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) at the American University of Beirut and with support from Waterfront City Cares. The market aims to promote organic and healthy food from local farmers and small producers from different Lebanese regions. It aims to establish and strengthen links between urban dwellers and rural producers by providing urban dwellers with access to healthy traditional foods and direct contact with producers.

More than fifteen producers and farmers from all over Lebanon regularly participate in the Souk aal Souk, offering consumers a wide range of traditional foods, pastries, saj, sweets, mouneh products, fresh fruit and vegetable juices, locally grown plants and flowers, handicrafts and more.

The Food Heritage Foundation brings the farmers' market to universities to promote healthy and traditional food among students. The souk has partnered with various schools and universities such as AUB, LAU Beirut and schools such as ACS, IC, Grand Lycée, Lycée Abdel Kader and many others.

For whom ?

The association works with small producers, civil society, urban and rural communities, women, rural youth, city dwellers and schoolchildren.

With whom ?

The Foundation has a number of regional partners, including SlowMed and USAID, and international partners such as International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) and Zaher Grow to Lurn.

Results

The Food Heritage Foundation has won the 2021 Community Engagement Innovation Award from the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute (AFI) awards programme.

The association was also one of 16 other initiatives recognised by the Food Tank (16 Initiatives Refining Food and Agriculture Across the Middle East).

The Ardi Ardak national food security initiative was highlighted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as the best agricultural innovation system in Lebanon for rural women and youth during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Little extra

The association promotes urban agriculture and the development of community gardens. To this end, it works with families, city dwellers and schoolchildren to raise awareness of the importance of producing healthy food all year round, while helping to make the city greener. In addition, the association strongly advocates the role of urban agriculture in improving food security (control of the inputs used in the production process, healthy and safe products because they are grown in-house, diversity of crops, resale of products, etc.).

The association has opened "The Good Food Hub". The Good Food Hub is a sustainable multidisciplinary space that provides support and incubation services to all small producers, cooperatives and local SMEs interested in developing their capacity and entrepreneurial activities.

This initiative sheet was written by Nadja Camille, LF project manager in March 2023.

Last modification : 29 Dec 2023.