The fear of a serious food crisis in Lebanon

Audio 02:32

The reinforced concrete silos were split in two by the explosion. Huge blocks of concrete and iron scrap threaten to fall on the rescue workers working below. RFI / Pierre Olivier

By: Oriane Verdier Follow

With the destruction of the wheat silos in the explosion in the port of Beirut, concerns are even greater about a major food crisis in a country which imports the vast majority of its consumption. Even before the disaster, the economic crisis had plunged part of the population into daily difficulty in finding food. Prices rose 109% between September and May. The first to be affected are the poorest, Syrian and Palestinian refugees in particular.

Publicity

On a vacant lot stands a small village of white tents. This is where Said his wife and 5 children have lived for six years. They fled from neighboring Syria at war. He is unemployed, a few months ago, he was driving excavators on construction sites:

“  There is no more work at all. Because of the situation, the cost of the dollar. A dollar was worth 1,500 Lebanese pounds, now it's worth 10 or 8,000 pounds. So nobody can find work anymore because all the sites are at a standstill.  "

Before we managed to get by but not anymore. Life has become very expensive because of the increase in the price of the dollar. For example if the rice cost 1,500 Lebanese pounds now it costs 5,000.

Under the large white tarpaulin, small rooms have been demarcated. Angham, Said's wife, shows us around:

“  I haven't done the dishes yet. Here I cook, I wash my clothes and we wash. In the morning I buy a bag of bread and make tea for breakfast. The second meal for us is lunch and dinner. We eat at the end of the afternoon. Sometimes I cook a dish of lentils or buy a kilo of white beans. I'm trying to change. Sometimes it's potatoes. Our diet has changed a lot. Before, I could buy meat. I could offer them meat or chicken at least once a week. But today a kilo of meat costs ... I don't even know, I don't dare to go. Once I went to see and I was shocked.  "

Angham is worried about the climate of tension that she feels more and more present on the part of the Lebanese:

“  At the very beginning when we left Syria, we found that there was a certain security here. But today we want to leave here to live and especially to support our children. Today, I cannot offer them a human life. As you can see, I keep them imprisoned at home. I limit their freedom. Because outside, everything that happens puts it on the backs of the children in the camp. The Lebanese are still attacking them.  "

Mohammad, the eldest of the family, still works in a garage when he has no school:

“  I repair cars with my boss. He teaches me, he tells me to unscrew this or that. I like this. My goal is to be able to open my own store one day. My future will be bright. It doesn't matter where, it doesn't matter.  "

If Mohammad and his family were forced to return to Syria, he would be requisitioned when he was 18 for military service. Just like his father and his three younger brothers. Faced with the crisis that Lebanon is going through, some political parties are publicly calling for the immediate return of refugees to Syria. The government adopted in mid-July a gradual return plan with the collaboration of the Syrian authorities.

Newsletter Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • Lebanon

On the same subject

Lebanon: investigation into the explosion will not be successful "very quickly", says President Aoun

Reportage

Beirut: in hospitals, fear of a shortage of equipment and drugs

Reportage

Explosion in Beirut: Crying and angry crowd pays tribute to victims