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Fair Trade Lebanon (FTL) is a Lebanese NGO that organizes agricultural development activities and raises awareness among Lebanese producers and consumers about fair trade. Founded in 2011, it is a success story of supporting women’s cooperatives and small-scale farmers. The organization assists cooperatives in identifying products that meet market demand. Since then, the systemic Lebanese crisis has brought about many difficulties.
There is a high stakes food security issue in Lebanon within the context of the multisectoral crisis the country is experiencing. It is essential to strengthen the importance of agriculture in the face of the local currency devaluation and in order to limit the import of food goods. Furthermore, the country is facing a climate emergency and environmental problems that strongly affect the lives of the population and the local economy.
FTTL supports agricultural and processing cooperatives by sustaining their incomes, facilitating access to market outlets, and promoting local and artisanal expertise. Several sectors are certified organic (olive oil, zaatar, organic hummus, grapes) and fair trade. FTTL’s impact is also demonstrated through the implementation of a participatory guarantee system and the establishment of a local farmers’ market. FTL and FTTL are also stakeholders in the Tarik Akdhar project, supported by SIDI.
