Government buys olive oil

Support only involves three percent of output

The Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) will buy 60,000 tanks of olive oil from farmers. The Cabinet approved a decision to transfer $4 million to purchase the quantity.

The amount of oil purchased by the government represents only three percent of the output, according to Rachid Zowayhed, Head of the Agricultural Cooperative in Hasbaya. “We had asked the government to purchase 200,000 tanks of olive oil,” he said. The MoA had initially promised to buy 100,000 tanks.

Annual olive oil production is around two million tanks, said Zowayhed: “We export 30 percent of the output while the local market consumes 20 percent.” The remaining 50 percent constitute an excess.

Zowayhed said: “The purchased amount is not enough for farmers to cover their basic operational costs like paying workers, buying pesticides, and pressing olives.” This year, the government purchased olive oil tanks at an average price of $66 per tank, much lower than the price paid last year. In early 2012, the MoA had bought 50,000 olive oil tanks at an average price of $80 per tank.

“Some farmers still haven’t received payments for the oil they sold last year,” said Zowayhed. The Ministry of Finance had asked farmers to open bank accounts so that it could deposit their payments. “It is a lengthy process for farmers to open accounts, especially since many of them live in rural areas,” said Zowayhed.