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With the production of apricots, zucchini and artichokes, the new production and commercial season began in Lebanon, in the northern Bekaa Valley on the border with Syria, under the FAV (Fruit And Vegetable) brand, which represents the 5 agricultural cooperatives (Sawa, Kaa El Rim, Ainata, Ain El Qabou, Wadi Al Aarayech) and their 220 member farmers, supported by the Small Farmers Program implemented by the John Paul II Foundation thanks to funding from the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

FAV Lebanon, created to coordinate cooperatives in building an international trade network, has already facilitated access to important markets such as Bahrain in 2019 and Dubai last year, trade destinations unthinkable a few years ago. The Consortium being established, in fact responds to one of the main demands identified not only in local but especially international buyers, namely the need to interface with a single seller to buy different types of quality fruits and vegetables in large quantities. In fact, FAV manages to offer for about 9 productive months per year, more than 30 different products from a pool of more than 500 small and medium-sized agricultural producers.

For the concretization of export activities, last October's trade visit to Dubai was crucial as it allowed to deepen the knowledge of one of the target markets, extend the marketing of products until the end of the year and establish useful trade reactions for this new production season. FAV representatives are these days again in Dubai to plan the next shipments and to meet new buyers who have shown interest in establishing new trade agreements. FAV Lebanon's export activity thus continues its gradual growth, supported by the improved production practices adopted by the fruit growers, which are more oriented toward agro-ecological practices, and also thanks to the marketing strategy that will soon launch a website dedicated to the Consortium.

Being able to rely on this trade outlet is of vital importance to Lebanese farmers especially now, given the severe financial and economic crisis the country is in, which can be measured by the dramatic rise in the inflation rate (around 800 percent) that has pulverized the population's real income, and which has been further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the August 4, 2020 Beirut port explosion.

For Lebanese farmers, exporting means not only diversifying sales channels, but more importantly, being able to receive in payment valuable currency, so-called "fresh money" (dollars), which allows them a profit sheltered from the devaluation of the Lebanese lira. In July 2020 for example, net profits for exporting cherries through FAV Lebanon were 55 percent higher than those obtained by selling the same product to Ferzol, the main wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the Bekaa Valley.

The path of growth and consolidation for FAV Lebanon and its producers is only just beginning, and it will take a large and sustained effort by all the actors who have facilitated the development of the Foundation's programs to date to be able to guarantee an impact that is not short-term, but offers guarantees of economic and environmental sustainability, inclusion and social cohesion that can mitigate the negative effects related to the economic instability of these fragile rural territories.