For Haykal Jibrael Mikhael, a farmer from the town of Qobaiyat in north Lebanon, losing one of his apple trees means losing a part of his livelihood. And for decades, Haykal and many other farmers have been losing many of their trees because of dwindling water availability.
“It’s not the first tree that has died,” added Haykal. “Many others have died, too, because of lack of water.”
When the USAID–funded Lebanon Water Project (LWP) offered local NGOs the opportunity to apply for small grants that they could use to help improve the quality and quantity of water available to any local community, the Safadi Foundation in north Lebanon seized the opportunity. Joining forces with the Qobaiyat Agricultural Cooperative and the Qobaiyat Municipality, the Safadi Foundation proposed a project that would connect area farmers to an existing artificial lake.
With the USAID grant, the consortium built a main distribution line. Once installed, water-parched farmers immediately started laying down drip irrigation networks from the main line to their neighboring lands.
Read the full article in Global Waters Stories on Medium.
