RCODE and Food Security graduate students visited the Chouf area as part of an outreach activity arranged by Dr. Shady Hamadeh in an effort to visit different local community
development projects. The first project was implemented by Secours Islamique France (SIF); it provides humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities. SIF-Lebanon works to achieve food security by distributing chicken to locals of the area. FAFS students met with small-scale farmers and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the project, including: that the municipality distributes organic waste to those who have chicken, but not all residents have space for this waste; everyone produces and sells eggs, making the business less profitable. A second project was initiated by local women entrepreneurs and aims to start a small business by selling local produce 'Mouneh'. During a visit to Eco-Khaldeh, an agroecology/organic agriculture training/education center, the students learned the importance of agroecology and organic agriculture and the potential of these to enhancing food security. In a meeting with Mayor Marwan Kaiss of the Municipality of Batloun, students were introduced to different community development projects that the municipality is trying to implement.
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