The Lebanese Minister of Agriculture, Abbas Hajj Hassan, stressed during a TV interview on Sunday that there won’t be a food crisis in Lebanon and the country’s food basket is preliminary for food security.
“When we say food basket, we mean all the citizen’s daily food needs, such as oil, sugar, legumes, wheat, flour, vegetables, and fruits,” he stated.
According to him, all the mentioned items will be assessed next Tuesday by the Food Security Committee to determine the country’s abilities to secure enough items for the food basket in full, and assess the issue of wheat and its inevitability.
He assured that “there is no crisis today in Lebanon,” adding that “things are good, but there will be a slight increase in wheat prices, which is normal in wake of the global crisis known to everyone.”
The minister stressed that his ministry is working lately to ensure that none of the basic food necessities are missed from the Lebanese market, noting, “this is the main goal that the government is working to achieve.”
The statement by the Lebanese Agriculture Minister, which is meant to reassure the people, comes in contradiction with the comments of Prime Minister Najib Mikati on March 15th urging the U.N. for food aid.
The U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also previously warned that Lebanon is now facing the consequences of the Russian war on Ukraine with an increase in fuel prices and wheat shortage.
At this stage, Lebanon is seeking to close a deal with India for wheat supply to replace Ukraine as its main source.
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