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FROM THE FIELD

Organic agriculture celebrating success

08 May 2007 07:51:41 GMT
Source: World Vision Middle East/Eastern Europe office (MEERO)

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Trainer Brian Caldwell, left, leading a group of WVL agriculture engineers during a field visit to an organic farm in East Sidon, south Lebanon.
World Vision MEERO, http://meero.worldvision.org

An increase in shipments across the Middle East and a third-place finish in a prestigious national contest are just two of the successes World Vision Lebanon's organic agriculture program has celebrated in the past few months.

Three shipments of Campagnia brand organic products, raised by farmers enrolled in World Vision's organic food program, have been sent to a major supermarket in Dubai. Deals with a Kuwaiti supermarket chain and retailers in Europe are also in the works.

In March, Campagnia brand organic olive oil placed third out of a line-up of 46 competitors in a national competition.

A new outlet for Campagnia products, which includes a packaging facility and offices, was opened in the Bekaa Valley to boost local sales for produce. It is the first organic food outlet in the region.

'This outlet is extremely important as it allows us to increase our visibility and number of customers, especially in this area, where organic agriculture is very rare,' said Geryes Rizk, the new outlet's centre manager. 'We are proud to be pioneers in introducing such fresh products to the area and raising awareness among local inhabitants on the importance of organic agriculture.'

Since 2002, World Vision with funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has been strengthening infrastructure with extension, demonstrating and training services to BioCoop Lubnan's farmers.

World Vision has helped the farmers become certified as organic by the Mediterranean Institute for Certification (IMC).

In a recent internal audit, the program was positively ranked "limited risk."

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

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Last updated:Tue May 8 09:32:08 2007