This volume examines the causes andconsequences of drought on Lebanon’s agriculture. Lebanon isgetting hotter and dryer. Projections show droughts willlikely become more frequent and severe. Climate change, ElNiño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and the North AtlanticOscillation (NAO) impact the occurrence of drought tovarying degrees, with NAO being the biggest short-termdriver and climate change being the biggest long-termdriver. The drier conditions will have importantramifications on Lebanon’s agricultural economy and thewellbeing of citizens working in agriculture. Ramificationsinclude production declines and the loss of livelihoods,among others. Drought was not considered an important issuein the country until recently. But, that view is slowlychanging as a series of droughts and other extreme weatherevents over the past decade demanded the nation’s attention.With greater awareness of drought, public institutionsslowly begin to change, moving from reactionary responses totaking the first steps towards strategic planning. Still,much more can be done. These actions include: developing anational drought action plan, establishing droughtmonitoring systems, improving ministerial coordination,utilizing new technologies like Hydroponics and EarlyWarning Systems, improving the quantity and quality ofclimatic data, and other actions. The individual chapters ofthis volume were compiled using information from fivecommissioned background papers. These background papersrelied on mostly secondary data sources. But, some primarydata was collected as well. Through key informant interviewsand focus group discussions, thirty stakeholders wereconsulted. They represent various research institutes, theprivate sector, government agencies, and civil societyorganizations. The purpose of this volume is to build offthe 2013 book, Increasing Resilience to Climate Change inthe Agricultural Sector of the Middle East: The Cases ofJordan and Lebanon (Verner et al. 2013). That bookprioritized agricultural needs in Jordan and Lebanon,including knowledge generation and technologicaladvancement. This volume adds to both topics.This reportexamines the causes and consequences of drought on Lebanon’sagriculture. It finds that Lebanon is getting hotter anddryer, while droughts will likely become more frequent andmore severe. We see that climate change, El Niño SouthernOscillation (ENSO), and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)may impact the occurrence of drought to varying degrees,with NAO being the largest short-term driver and climatechange being the largest long-term driver. The drierconditions will have important ramifications on Lebanon’sagricultural economy and the wellbeing of citizens workingin agriculture. Impacts from drier conditions includeproduction declines, loss of livelihoods, and many others.Until recently, drought was not considered an importantissue in the country, but that view is slowly changingbecause of a series of droughts and other extreme weatherevents that occurred over the past decade. With greaterawareness of drought, public institutions have also slowlybegun to change, moving from reactionary responses to takingthe first steps towards strategic planning.
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