Lebanese resort to wheat cultivation amid famine fears

BEIRUT: On the eve of the Christmas holidays, shopping malls throughout Lebanon were limited to selling only food.

The country has been hampered by an economic recession and political crisis for more than two months, creating financial and security chaos.

Nicolas, a father of four who owns a toy store in Beirut, said: “Sales are slow. At this time of the year, we usually cannot handle the number of customers, but this year, people are extremely hesitant to buy expensive gifts, and are choosing less expensive ones.”

Fear has risen due to analysts and political leaders warning of a possible famine, and the start of 2020 being harsher than recent months.

Head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt warned that “Jabal (Lebanon’s Druze-inhabited mountainous areas) and the entire country are on the brink of hunger” in a voice message sent over WhatsApp to Lebanese living abroad.

Jumblatt suggested some measures to support the party from abroad to address the risks, notably distributing food rations, encouraging wheat, lentil and bean cultivation and providing a stock of medicines.

Members of the party distributed food supplies to the needy in deprived areas. People have started considering alternative crops to address the famine. Imad, a landowner in the Bekaa governorate, said he will start cultivating wheat.

Khadija, Lebanese citizen from a southern village, said the “the municipality of the village has urged all landowners who are currently not using their lands to declare them so that the municipality can cultivate wheat and support the needy.”

Caretaker Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil had earlier reassured the Lebanese, stressing that “they have nothing to worry regarding the salaries of public sector employees,” despite up to 50 percent of their salaries being deducted due to the crisis and dozens of employees losing their jobs due to bankruptcy.

On Tuesday, the Lebanese lined up outside banks to receive what little is still allowed by the banks’ restrictive procedures, where cash withdrawals have been limited to $100 at some banks.

At a bank in the northern city of Tripoli, tensions soared as clients struggled to withdraw their money on the eve of the holiday.

Some people gathered outside the banks to denounce the policy, which required the intervention of the army and internal security forces to reduce tensions. Some money exchange houses and the black market have been charging rates above the official peg of 1,507 pound to the dollar, and selling it for up to 2,100 pounds.

Hassan Khalil warned two days ago that Lebanon “cannot survive long without a government.”

He said: “We have covered the state’s claims on time and we have also issued treasury bonds in the Lebanese pound at very low interest rates, which have helped us reduce the deficit, which will increase by more than was previously expected.”

Economic Expert Issam Al-Jurdi said that “the Lebanese have been waiting for signs to be reassured about their money, but silence has increased their fears, pushing them to believe that the matter is much more than a liquidity problem.”

On Tuesday, dozens of students gathered outside the Bank of Lebanon in Beirut to denounce the national economic and financial policies. They distributed flyers carrying the hashtag #We_Are_Not_Paying, urging the Lebanese to stop paying taxes, fees and their bank loans until the restoration of their rights.

In a meeting with Lebanese businessmen, banking expert Nassib Ghobril said that “despite the difficult crisis and restrictive banking procedures, Lebanon is still capable of recovering from the crisis if an effective government starts working on the required reforms program.”

Ghobril added that the crisis is due to “the lack of confidence in the state and a programmed plan to hit trust in the banking sector, creating a serious panic among the Lebanese and pushing them to keep big amounts of money at their homes, which has led to the interruption of liquidity.”

He said: “The situation will only gradually recover with the formation of an effective government that is supported and trusted by the people and the international community and that starts implementing reforms.