Lebanon

UNDP ART GOLD Lebanon establishes a public irrigation network in Dhour el Minnieh, North Lebanon

On December 8, 2009, the UNDP ART GOLD Programme (UNDP AGL), in collaboration with the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR), inaugurated a public irrigation network in Dhour el Minnieh, North Lebanon.

The inauguration took place in the Minnieh Public Park hall, in the presence of UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Mr. Nick Hartmann representing the Programme, accompanied by Ms. Cecile Molinier, Director of UNDP Office in Geneva and Mr. Hassan Hachem representing the Italian Cooperation Office at the Italian Embassy in Beirut. Members of Parliament from the Minnieh-Dinnieh area were represented in the proceedings alongside the President of Minnieh union of Municipalities Mr. Mostafa Akel, the area mayors and representatives of the civil society organizations and the agricultural cooperatives, and the ART GOLD team.

The establishment of a public irrigation network in Dhour El Minnieh falls within the 2009-2010 strategic objectives of UNDP ART GOLD Lebanon; in particular, the objective to increase income generation and job opportunities in agriculture and agro industry.
UNDP AGL aims through the implementation of this project in Dhour el Minnieh to support greenhouse agricultural production through the establishment of a public irrigation network to assist farmers (1197 greenhouses) accessing a regular supply of water at lower cost, to reduce their production cost and increase their income.
Greenhouse farmers in Dhour el Minnieh area lack access to a regular supply of water from public irrigation networks and they are forced to buy irrigation water from a few individuals who possess aquifers.
The project, aims through the decrease of the irrigation costs, to increase farmers’ income and improve the quality of Dhour el Minnieh agricultural products. It also aims to increase the competitiveness of Dhour el Minnieh agricultural products and optimize the farmers’ use of natural resources, mainly of irrigation water. The project includes the establishment of a well, pump, generator, an irrigation network of 1,100 meter length and a water reservoir.

The president of Minnieh union of municipalities Mr. Mostafa Akel expressed his gratitude to the UNDP and the Italian Government for the implementation of this Project. He said that the municipality and the citizens are ready to cooperate and contribute with all the parties to work for the benefit of the Minnieh region.

On behalf of the Italian Cooperation Office, Mr. Hassan Hachem stressed the history of the Italian Government intervention in North Lebanon. He said that this project is not the first and will not be the last to be implemented in the region. He added that the Italian Government is present in North Lebanon since 2006, where projects of the amount of 40 million Euros were implemented including UNDP ART GOLD Projects. He noted that 40% of the implemented projects are targeted towards the water and agriculture sectors.

UNDP Deputy Resident Representative Mr. Nick Hartmann noted that the Minnieh area is one of the poorest in Lebanon and therefore requires attention from the government, the donors and development organizations.

Mr. Hartmann said that this project is the first of series of AGL projects to be implemented in the Minnieh area, and aims to provide regular source of irrigation water for 57 greenhouse farmers in Dhour El Minnieh. He added that the implementation of this project will help decrease the cost of irrigation and improve the quality of agricultural products. All this will contribute to an increase in the income of the greenhouse farmers.


The director of UNDP Office in Geneva Ms. Cecile Molinier explained the office’s role in managing ART GOLD Programmes in 18 countries worldwide. She said that the Geneva office support the ART GOLD Programmes, expand them and mobilize all the international support.
Ms. Moliner praised the success of this project in Dhour El Minnieh and thanked the area’s citizens for their cooperation, the Italian Government for its contribution and the Lebanese Government represented by the CDR, for the support to this particular project and other development projects UNDP ART GOLD Programme is implementing at local and national levels.


The attendants concluded the inauguration with a tour of the greenhouses benefiting from this project.