Dimensions and determinants of rural poverty
Civil strife from 1976 to 1990 has adversely affected the agricultural sector and all other sectors of the economy. In particular, there was an almost complete destruction of the socioeconomic infrastructure of the country, devaluation of the local currency, high inflation rates, increased costs of inputs, decreased prices of outputs and lack of access to credit and marketing facilities. Lebanon ranks 102nd on the 1993 UNDP human development index that includes 173 countries. Increasing poverty, as a result of the war, is indicated by malnutrition, lack of safe water supply, lack of rural healthcare facilities and inadequate educational facilities.
