Olive Oil Farmers to Test their Oil for Quality

Imran Riza, Deputy Head of the Mission of UNIFIL, inaugurates a new UNIFIL-funded training room at the Agricultural Bureau in Bint Jubayl.

During the year nearly 400 local farmers benefitted from training and field visits on good olive oil farming practices.

This project focused on introducing best practices of olive farming, testing olive oil quality, and olive oil storage.

In this project, UNIFIL partnered with the Bint Jubayl Agriculture Bureau to support the olive oil farmers and olive oil cooperatives in the Caza of Bint Jubayl and to improve their production capacities.

The training included practical field trips.

Imran Riza, Deputy Head of the Mission of UNIFIL hands out olive oil quality lab testing equipment to representatives from three olive oil cooperatives: Safad Al Battikh, Kunin and Aynata.

Representatives from three olive oil cooperatives: Safad Al Battikh, Kunin and Aynata, with their new olive oil testing equipment.

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29 Dec 2015

Olive Oil Farmers to Test their Oil for Quality

In a new room at the Agricultural Bureau in Bint Jubayl, a round of applause breaks out as Imran Riza, Deputy Head of the Mission of UNIFIL hands out olive oil quality lab testing equipment to representatives from three olive oil cooperatives: Safad Al Battikh, Kunin and Aynata.

The day is a culmination of a three month-long UNIFIL Quick Impact Project where nearly 400 local farmers benefitted from training and field visits on good olive oil farming practices. One of the main sources of livelihoods in the Bint Jubayl caza is agriculture, particularly growing olives, and this project focused on introducing best practices of olive farming, testing olive oil quality, and olive oil storage. In total, around 396 farmers were directly targeted through a number of workshops held in different locations (Ghandouriyeh, Bint Jubayl, Tibnin, Ramiyah, Shaqra, Safad Al Battikh, Aytarun, Aynata, Maroun Ar R'as, Yatar and Kunin).

Mr Riza explained, "Part of 1701, and part of what the UN has been trying to do in Southern Lebanon is to extend state authority and part of that is to bring the local government to be the mechanism of change and for development for people in this region." In this project, UNIFIL partnered with the Bint Jubayl Agriculture Bureau to support the olive oil farmers and olive oil cooperatives in the Caza of Bint Jubayl and to improve their production capacities. The project also equipped the Bint Jubayl Agriculture Bureau with a suitable training room, where farmers can meet and upskill on a range of agricultural topics.

The head of Bint Jubayl Caza Agriculture Bureau, Mr. Hussein Al-Sakka said, "Today we completed a project with UNIFIL's Civil Affairs and we inaugurated the presentation room. The COOP's that took part in the project received equipment that tests acidity and the peroxide present in the olive oil."

An olive farmer and head of the Safad Al Battikh cooperative, Hussein Zeineddine, who attended the workshops and the ceremony added, "Testing the oil, trioxide and acidity, has totally changed our view. The olive oil is good, but it turned out that the tin and acidity play a major role in people's health, and in the taste of oil as well as its benefits to the human body."

Now with the ability as well as the facility to monitor these levels in future olive oil productions, the farmers of this region can ensure higher standards and hopefully higher profit margins.

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Article: Aoibheann O'Sullivan
Video Editor: Mohamad Hamze
Video Camera: Suzane Badereddine, Mohamad Hamze
Photo: UNIFIL Public Information
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