Deputy Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Beth Bechdol speaks during an interview with AFP in Beirut on October 1, 2026. (AFP)
The deputy director-general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization said Thursday that she was “deeply concerned” about the impact of the latest Israel-Hezbollah conflict on agriculture in south Lebanon.
Beth Bechdol said reports estimate that about 22% of Lebanon’s agricultural land has been damaged or otherwise affected.
The damage “puts additional pressure on farmers and rural communities that, frankly, were already facing considerable hardships,” said the FAO’s Beth Bechdol. Bechdol added that she is “very concerned about just general food security levels” in Lebanon.
Hundreds of thousands remain displaced in Lebanon. While violence has decreased since a June ceasefire, Israeli troops remain in a “security zone” within the country and have been carrying out widespread demolitions affecting villages and farmland. Bechdol also expressed concern about potential contamination and soil damage in south Lebanon due to unexploded ordnance and residues from military operations.
In June, a U.N.-backed assessment from Lebanese authorities estimated agricultural production losses in south Lebanon this year had reached at least $530 million. The conflict has also “disrupted markets and reduced access” to essentials for food production, including fertilizer, Bechdol said.
This week, UNICEF said four in five households in Lebanon “are struggling to afford basic necessities as conflict compounds years of economic crisis.” In April, a UN-backed report said more than 1.2 million people in Lebanon were expected to face acute hunger in the following months due to the latest war.
AFP / FRANCE 24
