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Economy

Lebanon’s crisis-hit farmers turn to growing hashish

Cannabis, seen here in the village of Yammouneh in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, represents a new opportunity for profit for local farmers hit hard by the country's economic crisis. (AFP/Joseph Eid)

BAALBECK — For three decades, Abu Ali planted potatoes to provide for his family, but Lebanon's economic crisis has driven up production costs and forced him to swap the crop for cannabis.

“It's not for the love of hashish,” the 57-year-old told AFP in the eastern Baalbeck region, the heart of Lebanon's illicit cannabis industry.

“It's just less expensive than other crops ... and allows you to live with dignity.”

Lebanon is in the throes of a spiraling economic crisis compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.

As the value of the local currency plunges on the black market, the cost of imported fuel, seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, which are priced in dollars, has skyrocketed.

More and more small farmers, who were already in dire straits before the crisis, are deciding to grow cannabis instead.

“With agriculture, we were always losers,” said Abu Ali, who asked to use a pseudonym, citing security concerns.

After decades of neglect by the state, many of Abu Ali's colleagues are now indebted to banks or loan sharks and have had to sell land or property to settle dues.

To avoid the same fate, Abu Ali in 2019 started cultivating hashish, or cannabis resin, which costs four times less to produce than potatoes or green beans.

It also requires less water and fertilizer, while strong market demand means he can rake in a stable income for the first time in years.

“When we planted vegetables we couldn't even buy fuel for heating,” Abu Ali said.

“Not living the high life”

He has dedicated two hectares of land to hashish cultivation — enough to produce around 100 kilograms every harvest.

One kilogram sells for an average of LL2 million, but its price could reach up to LL5 million pounds depending on quality.

“I'm not living the high life, but ... I can feed and support my family,” Abu Ali said.

Hashish production was once limited to a few villages in Baalbeck, including Yammouneh, but its deputy mayor, Hussein Shreif, said it is now gaining traction across the whole region.

“Many farmers have given up on growing their usual produce because of losses,” he said.

Cannabis, however, “costs less to produce and rakes in a profit irrespective of how much it's sold for.”

Lebanon is the world's fourth-biggest hashish producer, behind Morocco, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the United Nations said in a 2020 report.

At least 40,000 hectares of land are planted with cannabis, the UN says, even though its sale and consumption are officially banned in Lebanon.

A year ago, Parliament voted to legalize growing cannabis for medical use to boost revenues for the crippled economy.

However, authorities have yet to take action, even though hashish could rake in $350 million a year in revenues and up to $1 billion by the fifth year, caretaker Agriculture Minister Abbas Mortada told AFP.

The government still needs to create a regulatory body to oversee legalization, and a monthslong delay in the formation of a new cabinet means it will not likely see the light anytime soon, he said.

Mortada explained that he was working with international institutions and drafting plans to boost an agriculture sector that has been “neglected for decades.”

“No losses”

Agricultural production in Lebanon "declined substantially” in 2020, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization says.

“It could be worse in 2021,” largely because of a deeper devaluation of the lira, said FAO's Lebanon representative, Maurice Saade.

Over the past year, "many farmers either could not plant at all, or had to reduce their planting areas,” he said.

As a result, farmers are falling deeper into debt “or are using old seeds, so they are getting lower yields.”

In partnership with the government, the FAO will be handing about 30,000 farmers a $300 voucher to help them buy supplies and agricultural equipment, he said.

In the garage of a Yammouneh home, a grower, who asked to be called Mohammad, looked on as two workers extracted cannabis resin using a sieve.

Outside, burlap bags packed with cannabis seeds lay stacked against a wall.

Mohammad started growing the herb in 2018 after more than 20 years of planting potatoes.

He has allotted a little more than a hectare of land to cultivating cannabis, and even receives payment in hashish from neighbors who extract water from his well.

He says he has never looked back.

“With potatoes, you make a profit one year and lose for three years after that,” the 60-year-old said. "With hashish there are no losses."

“If it weren't for growing cannabis, people wouldn't be able to eat.”

BAALBECK — For three decades, Abu Ali planted potatoes to provide for his family, but Lebanon's economic crisis has driven up production costs and forced him to swap the crop for cannabis.

“It's not for the love of hashish,” the 57-year-old told AFP in the eastern Baalbeck region, the heart of Lebanon's illicit cannabis industry.

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