one of the beneficiary farmers of the FFS project

In the framework of the project “Emergency Vaccination and Targeted Feeding of Livestock Grazing in Areas along the Syria-Lebanon Border” funded by the Government of UK, Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Lebanon (FAO) organized a donor field visit with the Department for International Development (DFID) delegation in Lebanon to a poultry farmer field school (FFS) in Muasrya. The delegation included Mr. Tom Russel and Mr. Duccio Staderini, Humanitarian Affairs Officers in DFID and were accompanied by FAO technical team.

The field visit aimed to enhance DFID understanding of the ways in which FAO is assisting local farmers in diversifying their income sources and enhancing their livelihood in producing food of animal origin through FFS. During the first stop, the 20 members of the FFS in Muasrya organized an opening session where they presented their learning activities implemented during the FFS trainings in addition to their recommendations and observations. The opening session was followed by visits to two beneficiaries, during which their chicken coops were examined and experiences with FFS, opportunities and challenges related to egg production and marketing were discussed.

FAO has established 25 poultry farmer field schools across Lebanon by which 1500 households are benefiting. The 1500 members of the FFSs received intensive trainings and materials to construct a simple chicken coop. In addition, 40,000 laying hens at production age and poultry feed for two months has been distributed. The project aims to assist local farmers to increase their source of income and their access to nutritious animal protein