Olive farmers urge Cabinet to pay for oil purchases

Local produce faces Arab competition

Olive farmers called on the Cabinet to pay for the oil it bought from them last year. Committees representing the olive sector held a meeting during which they vowed to take escalatory action if the government does not pay their dues.

“The government will pay farmers very soon, so they would not have the chance to protest,” said Antoine Howayek, head of the Lebanese Farmers Association. He expected the payments to be processed through farmers’ cooperatives. The government bought 750,000 kilos (50 times 15-kilo tanks) of olive oil last year through cooperatives. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the annual olive oil local production is around 30,000 tons.

Olive farmers face problems in marketing their produce each year. The cost of producing 15 kilos of oil is around $70. “Farmers are demanding $100 for every 15 kilos of olive oil,” said Howayek. According to him, a radical solution must be found so that the government would not have to pay the subsidy each year.

Good quality oil, coming from countries like Algeria and Morocco creates strong competition for olive farmers. Howayek also said, “local olive oil is sometimes being mixed with other kinds of oil. That is why there isn’t much demand for it compared to foreign products.”