Enhancing agroecological practices among smallholders in developing countries: the prospects of a participatory guarantee system for Lebanon’s organic sector

In most developing countries, small and marginal farmers are among the most vulnerable and food insecure.
In such contexts, enhancing agroecological practices on smallholder farms and enabling them to adopt local guarantee system contributes to their household food security, which positively impacts national food security.
In Lebanon, after two decades of advocacy for the organic agriculture (OA) movement, the sector’s potential in improving smallholders’ livelihoods remain untapped, and many bottlenecks, among these, hinder its progress: a) the non-cooperative attitude among smallholders, b) the lack of technical assistance, and c) the high cost of third-party certification (TPC). We have analyzed the OA sector in Lebanon and investigated the prospects of a participatory guarantee system (PGS) as an alternative to TPC. The analysis of the Lebanese OA sector revealed that PGS could be an alternative for Lebanese organic smallholders to stay in business in the local market.
However, it should be established as a parallel guarantee system that complements TPC, which remains a requirement for more prominent producers and traders targeting export markets.

XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Agroecology and System Approach for Sustainable and Resilient Horticultural Production

M. Aoun, R. Touma, A.C. Abboud

organic agriculture, participatory guarantee system (PGS), developing countries, food security

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1355.40