In the Eastern Mediterranean, Lebanon should be a regional leader in agricultural production. The tiny country boasts a wide range of high-quality produce — from strawberries grown on mountaintops to bananas cultivated in the south — which could nourish more people locally and internationally.
Unfortunately, Lebanon’s agricultural sector has run unsustainably and inefficiently for decades. Outdated farming techniques have depleted soil quality and polluted groundwater reserves, while farmers themselves receive minimal profits for their hard work.
Now Lebanon’s unprecedented economic crisis has made this antiquated business model completely untenable. Many farmers can no longer afford imported diesel to run their agricultural machinery; imported inputs, like seeds, have also become prohibitively expensive.
YY ReGen has started directly tackling these challenges. One of the company’s specific projects, ReGen-R8, aims to provide a one-stop shop for Lebanese farmers to buy on-demand renewable energy. A mobile app will allow users to request power for their farms as required, and then pay when they have access to funds, such as after harvesting.
Crucially, Jaafar notes that the economic crisis has driven farmers to seek out renewable energy providers like YY ReGen. “Our solutions are no longer ‘nice-to-haves,’ but critically needed if Lebanese agriculture is to survive and thrive.”
