Fresh bread in a Beirut bakery on July 1, 2020. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Caretaker Economy and Trade Minister Amin Salam announced Friday “the end of the bread crisis which had been raging in the country for several weeks, causing shortages and queues in front of bakeries.”
Here’s what we know:
• Salam made this assertion following a meeting of the joint commission dedicated to food security, chaired at the Grand Serail by caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
• When this commission was created 10 days ago, it was tasked with setting up a mechanism to monitor the quantities of wheat and flour in the country, from “the docking of ships at the ports of the country until the sale of bread in bakeries.”
• Salam said the mechanism had had the intended effect, attributing the alleged end of the crisis to the “tireless work of all the agencies” cooperating with the ministry.
• A similar mechanism, in collaboration with the Agriculture Ministry, should also be adopted to “encourage Lebanese farmers to produce barley and wheat” and would consist of ensuring the purchase of these local products up to “about 40,000 tonnes” by the mills of the country, the minister said. In fact, the government used to have a program under which it would buy wheat from local farmers to ensure the country’s food security, but the program was discontinued in 2019. However, Salam said, such a mechanism can only be decided once the cabinet has met.
• As for the $150 million World Bank loan to secure wheat imports to Lebanon for the next “six to nine” months, it should be implemented “within a month,” the minister announced.
• The loan, which was approved by the World Bank on May 6 and by Parliament last month, was made to “finance immediate wheat imports to avoid the disruption in supply over the short term and help secure affordable bread for poor and vulnerable households,” a World Bank spokesperson told L’Orient Today.
• Salam assured that lines of credit have been opened to ensure the import of wheat.
• The first shipment of over 26,000 tons of Ukrainian food supplies under a Black Sea export deal was cleared to proceed on Wednesday, towards its final destination in Lebanon, according to the United Nations. However, the shipment consists of corn and barley intended as animal feed. It will thus not have a direct impact on the country’s bread supply.