Pioneering Producer Believes Intensive Olive Farming Is the Future in Lebanon
Pioneering Producer Believes Intensive Olive Farming Is the Future in Lebanon Olive Oil Times
sdgtalks
Pioneering Producer Believes Intensive Olive Farming Is the Future in Lebanon
By Daniel Dawson
May. 9, 2024 14:09 UTC
As Lebanon’s economic crisis enters its fourth year, its agricultural sector stands at a crossroads.
According to a November 2023 article from the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, a think tank, the crisis has compounded pre-existing challenges in the sector, including high production costs, skilled labor shortages, and the highly fragmented nature of Lebanese farming.
Charbel Jaoude, an architect and founder of CBio Jaoude, believes planting high-density and super-high-density groves is the answer to tackling these challenges in the country’s olive sector.
Olive oil production has long been an essential part of Lebanese agriculture. About one-fourth of the country’s arable land – 56,400 hectares – is covered by olive groves.
Most of these groves are found in the coastal mountains in western and southern Lebanon, where there is more rain. However, the rugged terrain prevents planting at high-density or super-high-density and precludes using machines to harvest the trees.
Jaoude believes these intensive methods of olive cultivation are necessary for the sector to overcome the economic crisis by lowering production costs and decreasing labor requirements while allowing farmers to maintain quality.
“The olive-growing world is adopting new technology, but everyone in Lebanon is still following the old ways,” he told Olive Oil Times.
In 2012, Jaoude became the first super-high-density olive farmer in the country, planting more than 11,500 Arbequina olive trees on nine hectares in the fertile Beqaa Valley.
“After much study, I decided to plant super-high-density [spaced 1.35 meters by 3.75 meters] in Beqaa because the land is flat, with a lot of sun and good soil,” Jaoude said.
Jaoude originally planned to plant 200 hectares of olive trees but had difficulty buying enough land suitable for intensive olive growing. Instead, Jaoude decided to travel around the country and find interested partners to purchase more land and plant olive trees in the country’s flatter eastern and northern regions.
“I’m working to help more people plant super-high-density olive farms,” he said. “Over the past five years, we have planted 1.4 million Arbequina trees” at high-density and super-high-density in Beqaa and Akkar.
Jaoude said planting olive trees intensively allows him to harvest faster. Using machines, he harvests his entire grove in one day, yielding about 80 tons of olives. Previously, he said it took 40 to 50 workers a whole day to harvest two tons.
Additionally, he can remove pruning debris and spray kaolin clay more efficiently. Jaoude said each of these tasks takes about 30 minutes, allowing him to lower his labor costs tremendously.
Researchers in Spain have estimated that it costs 4.5 times more to produce a kilogram of olive oil from traditionally planted groves than from super-high-density groves.
Jaoude chose Arbequina trees because they are adaptable to intensive olive cultivation and are historically associated with the region.
Due to the arid climate, Jaoude can cultivate the olives organically, using goat manure to fertilize the trees and kaolin clay to keep pests away. He also maximizes the pollination potential by transporting his bees into the grove each spring.
Water availability is the main challenge for intensive olive cultivation in the Beqaa Valley and northern Lebanon. Due to low precipitation levels, Jaoude must irrigate his olives twice weekly.
He criticized Lebanese water policy as the main limiting factor to olive growing in the region. Jaoude said there is plenty of available water, but a 1994 agreement with Syria prohibited new wells from being drilled in the Beqaa Valley to pump water.
Despite the water sourcing challenges, Jaoude produced five tons of extra virgin olive oil in the 2023/24 crop year. As the olive trees mature, he anticipates the olive oil yields will continue to increase.
In its preliminary harvest estimate published in November, the International Olive Council forecasted Lebanon to produce 18,000 tons of olive oil, slightly above the five-year average.
Since then, many olive groves in the south of the country have been damaged and olive growers displaced as Israeli forces have exchanged fire with Hezbollah, a political party and militant group with links to Iran. As a result, Lebanese production will fall below this initial estimate.
Still, Jaoude is optimistic that national production will increase as more high-density and super-high-density groves mature and investors see the opportunity presented by the cultivation method in eastern and northern Lebanon.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Intensive Olive Farming as a Solution
Adopting New Technology
Pioneering Super-High-Density Olive Farming
Benefits of Super-High-Density Olive Farming
Sustainable Practices
Challenges and Future Outlook
Related Articles
SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Analysis
1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?
- SDG 1: No Poverty – The article discusses the economic crisis in Lebanon and how intensive olive farming can help lower production costs and cope with the ongoing crisis.
- SDG 2: Zero Hunger – Olive oil production is an essential part of Lebanese agriculture, and the article highlights the potential for increasing production through intensive farming methods.
- SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – The article mentions skilled labor shortages and the fragmented nature of Lebanese farming as challenges in the agricultural sector.
- SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Intensive olive farming can help lower production costs and decrease labor requirements, contributing to more efficient and sustainable production practices.
- SDG 13: Climate Action – The article mentions using goat manure for organic fertilization and kaolin clay to keep pests away, indicating a focus on sustainable agricultural practices.
2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?
- Target 1.2: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions – Intensive olive farming can help lower production costs and potentially improve the economic situation of farmers.
- Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers – Intensive olive farming can increase productivity and income for small-scale olive producers in Lebanon.
- Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on high-value-added and labor-intensive sectors – Intensive olive farming, with its focus on new technology and high-density planting, can contribute to higher economic productivity in the agricultural sector.
- Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water, and soil to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment – The use of organic fertilization and sustainable pest control methods in intensive olive farming aligns with this target.
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning – The adoption of sustainable agricultural practices, such as intensive olive farming, contributes to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?
- Indicator 1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age – This indicator can be used to measure progress in reducing poverty in Lebanon’s agricultural sector.
- Indicator 2.3.1: Volume of production per labor unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size – This indicator can be used to measure the increase in agricultural productivity and incomes resulting from intensive olive farming.
- Indicator 8.2.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person – This indicator can be used to measure the economic productivity improvements in the agricultural sector through the adoption of intensive farming methods.
- Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement – This indicator can be used to assess the implementation of environmentally sound management practices in intensive olive farming.
- Indicator 13.3.2: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic, and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation, and technology transfer, and development actions – This indicator can be used to measure the efforts made by Lebanon to enhance capacity-building for sustainable agricultural practices, including intensive olive farming.
Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators
| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|---|---|---|
| SDG 1: No Poverty | Target 1.2: By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women, and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions | Indicator 1.2.1: Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age |
| SDG 2: Zero Hunger | Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers | Indicator 2.3.1: Volume of production per labor unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size |
| SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | Target 8.2: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading, and innovation, including through a focus on high-value-added and labor-intensive sectors | Indicator 8.2.1: Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person |
| SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production | Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water, and soil to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment | Indicator 12.4.1: Number of parties to international multilateral environmental agreements on hazardous waste, and other chemicals that meet their commitments and obligations in transmitting information as required by each relevant agreement |
| SDG 13: Climate Action | Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising, and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction, and early warning | Indicator 13.3.2: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic, and individual
Copyright: Dive into this article, curated with care by SDG Investors Inc. Our advanced AI technology searches through vast amounts of data to spotlight how we are all moving forward with the Sustainable Development Goals. While we own the rights to this content, we invite you to share it to help spread knowledge and spark action on the SDGs. Fuente: oliveoiltimes.com
Join us, as fellow seekers of change, on a transformative journey at https://sdgtalks.ai/welcome, where you can become a member and actively contribute to shaping a brighter future.
|
