Qassem Shreim squatted low in a secluded community in southern Lebanon to inspect his wheat crop. Food prices have risen due to a global wheat crisis and Lebanon’s own economic downturn, but the builder-turned-farmer is protected by his self-sufficiency.
Shreim, like many families in crisis-torn Lebanon, turned to farming once the local pound began to fall in 2019, making construction work scarce and grocery runs increasingly expensive.
‘What did we do when we couldn’t work? We went into agriculture,’ 42-year-old said, during the interview in his home village of Houla, near the Israeli border.
According to the World Food Programme, food costs have increased 11-fold since Lebanon’s crisis began. Lebanese officials have gradually raised an official price cap on loaves of the staple pita bread, and concerns about a wheat scarcity have escalated since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted grain imports.
In Shreim’s simple home, slices of melon harvested from their garden shine in the afternoon light, and the kitchen is stocked with flatbread prepared by his wife, Khadija, using wheat from their farm.
Their front patio and hallway have been transformed into a makeshift shop, with Khadija-made wooden stands displaying large watermelons and jars of freshly pressed grapeleaves.
‘Self-sufficiency begins at home. I used to buy everything in stores. Today, I can obtain all of the vegetables I need,’ Shreim stated.
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