Tasting Newfound Success

Beirut's Bristol Hotel struck a deal with olive-oil producer Sheikh Derbieh at a festival like this one. Mercy Corps gave him and other olive farmers marketing support and upgraded equipment. Photo: Mercy Corps

Sheikh Mahmoud Derbieh is a 40-year-old father of three from Hasbaya region in the farming region of southern Lebanon. He's an olive farmer who runs a food shop and an olive mill. And he's getting support from Mercy Corps to improve the quality of the olive oil he produces and to start his own label — changes that have translated into higher sales.

Two Mercy Corps projects focus on improving the olive-oil and forage-crop industries in southern Lebanon through technical assistance and training. We're addressing problems facing farmers and providing assistance to improve the quality and sales of their produce. Additional infrastructure enhancements will improve access to lands and increase productivity, reducing costs to both producers and consumers.

Mahmoud has been part of one of the projects, dubbed Expanding Economic Opportunities, since it began in late 2005. He received new equipment that helped decrease the acidity of his oil, and sold an extra 130 tanks of oil through Mercy Corps-sponsored events and fairs. At Souk el Tayeb, a weekly Beirut vegetable market, ten project farmers got together to sell their olive oil and honey products, Mahmoud made contacts with a buyer who now purchases 20 olive oil tanks — each with 20 liters worth of oil — every month to export to Africa and the Middle East.

Still another buyer, from Saudia Arabia, recently purchased a total of 1,500 olive-oil tanks — an order so large that it had to be spread among farmers in the region. "The oil was collected mainly from the millers who had modern mills and from the people who pressed in these mills," he explained. "It meant that many beneficiaries from the project had the chance to sell their olive oil."

Mahmoud's other retail successes include enlisting a Beirut hotel as a new customer and introducing a brand label to increase grocery-store sales.

Olives are among oldest known cultivated trees in the world. And thanks to Mercy Corps, Lebanese who grow and process their bitter fruits are tasting newfound success.