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CIHEAM Zaragoza launches a cooperation project in the Lebanon to improve olive yields and enhance sustainability
CIHEAM > AGENDAS > CIHEAM Zaragoza launches a cooperation project in the Lebanon to improve olive yields and enhance sustainability
  • The ‘OLIB’ Project, financed by the Provincial Council of Zaragoza, will be working with a local women’s cooperative to enhance theoretical and practical knowledge in olive growing and oil technologies

  • Through this project, CIHEAM Zaragoza will continue in its commitment to empower rural women to work towards sustainable development and peace in the Mediterranean

Zaragoza, 24 January 2024.- CIHEAM Zaragoza launches the cooperation for development project ‘Strengthening Sustainable Development and Coexistence in Lebanon through Improved Olive Tree Yield and Productivity (OLIB)’. The aim of the project is to enhance theoretical and practical knowledge in olive growing and oil technology of agricultural cooperatives, farmers, advisors and technical experts in the olive sector in southern Lebanon. Olive grove management to achieve higher yields or implementation of new strategies to face climate change are just some of the issues addressed in the programme that aims to have a positive impact on the local economy.

The activities of this project, financed by the Provincial Council of Zaragoza, will be carried out through the women’s cooperative of the Lebanese town of Deir Mimas, which will become a reference stakeholder in the area and an example of best practices in increasing efficiency and enhancing the conservation of the olive grove. In this sense, the project will strengthen the economic and environmental sustainability of Mediterranean food systems.

The ‘OLIB’ project’s training programme will be delivered by Spanish professionals with expertise in this area of Lebanon, one of the 13 member countries of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM in French). By setting up this project, CIHEAM Zaragoza will advance in its commitment to the empowerment of rural women, sustainable development and peace in the Mediterranean.

Raúl Compés, director of CIHEAM Zaragoza talks about the initiative: “This project is another example of the activities we carry out from CIHEAM Zaragoza on the topic of olive growing and oil technology in order to boost sustainable agrifood development in the Mediterranean region”. He goes on to say, “In this case, we will create a common space and a means to share knowledge in the field, focusing on women farmers as agents for change in rural areas”.

The project will last for one year and counts on the collaboration of the Spanish Ministry of Defence and the Conference of University Centres for Agri-food and Forestry Engineering, represented by José Casanova, tenure lecturer of the Department of Agricultural Science and the Natural Environment of the Higher Polytechnic School of Huesca of the University of Zaragoza.

OLIB will provide continuity and reinforce the impact of the Proyecto Almazara (Oil Mill Project) in which Spanish universities have shared their knowledge with farmers of different municipalities in southern Lebanon under the protection of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).