LLWB, in partnership with FHF, ESDU, and Berytech, received a UNDP grant to implement the project: Responding to the Socio-Economic Crisis: Promoting Self-Sufficiency and Enhancing Production, which began in July 2020 and will be developed over 6 months. The project aims to promote the self-sufficiency of vulnerable communities and enhance local production using sustainable agriculture and food processing. The project will establish demo units for urban agriculture in Beirut and Tripoli, and an agri-food lab in Zico House. The project will serve to expand production and sustain the self-sufficiency of 50 entities including farmers, cooperatives, MSMEs, and start-ups, through short-term labor force support such as “cash for work" and "cash for training" for 420 Lebanese and Syrian beneficiaries.
The Agro-food Hub Lab objectives are to develop training and applied research and development in 1)urban agriculture through planting basic and added-value crops as a qualitative ersatz to the most popular imported aromatic plants and micro-greens, 2)food design to elevate the Lebanese food with innovation and sustainability by applying new technologies to preserve naturally harvested fruits and vegetable and ready to eat and cook dishes and mezze thus answering the growing consumers' needs for convenience, clean and healthy Lebanese homey food 3)organic waste treatment improvement and experimentation.