Ministry of Agriculture and FAO Sign Agreement to Prepare Lebanon’s New Agricultural Census

New 18-month project

The Ministry of Agriculture of Lebanon (MoA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially signed a new Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) to lay the groundwork for Lebanon’s upcoming Agricultural Census.

The agreement marks the start of a critical preparatory phase aimed at revitalizing Lebanon’s agricultural data systems. This initiative comes in response to the pressing need for updated data, as the country’s last Agricultural Census was conducted in 2010, rendering existing information on farm structures and rural livelihoods outdated.

Accurate and timely agricultural data are essential for evidence-based planning, effective policymaking, and sustainable rural development. The new 18-month project will focus on establishing the legal and institutional framework for the census, while also enhancing the technical capacities of Ministry staff in line with the latest international methodologies outlined in the World Programme for the Census of Agriculture 2030.

This TCP represents an important step towards achieving a comprehensive, evidence-based understanding of Lebanon’s agricultural sector and ensuring more informed, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems for the future.

Through this joint initiative, FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture reaffirm their shared commitment to strengthening agricultural statistics in Lebanon to support planning, policy design, research and innovation, and the monitoring of agriculture’s environmental footprint.