The burdens of living in a country that suffers from an economic crisis have forced many to work multiple jobs in order to meet the basic needs of their families.

Attah is a married man and father of two; George (19 years old) and Jessie (15 years old). He works in a restaurant, but unfortunately, it became an unreliable source of income even in addition to his work in farming.

This hardworking man used to grow barley, wheat, olive, almond, and grapes with more than 10 years of experience, sadly the economic crisis affected Attah’s ability to buy new seedlings which in return slowed down the productivity of his land without being able to plant new crops.

Attah needed some support to buy new seedlings, because his savings were not enough to buy the required amount. This initiative will help Attah to improve his work and guarantee a better life for his family through investing in the land which he has always loved and taken care of to pass it on to his children after him. 

"Before this support, I was unable to cultivate my land!" with these words, Attah concluded, hoping for better seasons. 

Bassel lives with his wife, their 12-year-old son, and his elderly father in Ozeir village, the hometown of many generations of the Jreij family.

Its geographic location on the Syrian/Lebanese borders made Ozeir's younger generation head to Lebanon to search for their own paths through life, and have different experiences from what their parents and grandparents had in their farm-based community. Bassel was no exception, in 2001 he headed to Lebanon and pursued a career in culinary work. It wasn't until 2019 when the covid-19 situation escalated, the restaurants closed and he had to return to his hometown.

Back in Ozeir, one does not have many choices when it comes to choosing a livelihood. This remote but prosperous town had only the potential for farming and in order to carry on, Bassel had no choice but to take care of his father’s land after long years of neglect. As days went by, the prior chef and now farmer started to actually like farming, he felt linked to that land and saving it became more like a mission to save his heritage. The greenhouse was one of the new editions which Bassel made in 2020, he grew zucchinis that returned with a good harvest, but being exposed to environmental conditions, the greenhouse needed constant maintenance. 

Taking care of this land started to become a hard task, one that required a lot of capital which this young man couldn't afford. Bassel was thinking of a solution when he found out that growing strawberries could be the answer to his problem; mainly because strawberries were the type of crops that would grow fast and in great quantity without requiring any heating of the greenhouse. So when Bassel applied for his project, he had already planned everything to minimize the costs of fuel and maintenance and needed to purchase the seedlings for his desired product that will guarantee his family a dignified life from many prosperous seasons as he hopes.

Although he lost 7 years of his life serving in the army, Elias tried very hard to compensate for those years and worked with enthusiasm to build up a new life from scratch. After finishing his service, he returned to his home village Maskaneh and stayed with his elderly parents who needed his help and support. 

Since his father's health and age no longer allow him to work in farming, the 32 year old took the responsibility of his family's land upon himself, rolled his sleeves and jumped into the process of ploughing the land and preparing it for planting. First he set up iron stands to grow a vineyard. Of course growing the groves with grapes would require vine plants which consumes what was left of Elias' savings. Unfortunately, with no money left for the rest of the requirements, he couldn’t afford the cost of an irrigation system and had to water the plants manually by using hoses, which was an impractical, time consuming and inefficient method. 

As a person who's driven by ambition and didn't want to settle just for life on a farmland and still wanted to improve his personal skills; This young man applied to the DISC Program where heard about the Micro-Agricultural Projects Program. It seemed as if it destined to come across this program and he didn't hesitate to take this opportunity. He brought all the required documents and applied for a drip irrigation system, which would ensure him better cultivation conditions and hence, better productivity and income. 

This project is Elias’s last hope to grow his vineyard after years he spent in horror and deprivation because of the vicious war. 

Afif is a hardworking farmer from Ozeir village, his land of olive trees and wheat has been the family's only source of livelihood for generations. He is the sole provider for his wife and three children who all work together in farming to ensure better crops. 

The family owns a tractor, which they use to plow the land but lately, covering the high costs of its maintenance has become a real challenge, mainly due to the expensive price of new tires, which made driving the tractor a serious risk.

Afif started to rely on renting another tractor and that of course wasn't cheap at all, in addition to the costs of buying pesticides and agricultural medicines. 

The economic crisis made things harder and put much pressure on Afif, but this initiative helped in alleviating a part of his burdens, giving him the chance to focus on developing the agricultural conditions of his land and secure a better income for the family.