TİKA Supports Advanced Agricultural Research Center in Lebanon

Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) carried out improvement work in the Dairy Processing Workshop and Laboratory of the American University of Beirut. As part of the project, a certificate program was organized for participants attending the training program.

In line with the goal of increasing Lebanon's production capacity, a project was carried out by TİKA to support research and development in the field of dairy products. TİKA carried out improvement work in the Dairy Processing Workshop and Laboratory of the Advanced Agricultural Research Center (AREC) of the American University of Beirut, one of the leading universities in Lebanon.

AREC's Dairy Processing Workshop and Laboratory was established on an area of 100 hectares in the Bekaa Valley in 1953 and has carried out many innovative studies in the fields of agriculture, stockbreeding, environment and water management since then. In addition, a total of 105 people, mostly women, were trained in 7 terms on food safety, hygiene, production, packaging, planning, branding and marketing of local and foreign cheese varieties and dairy products such as yoghurt and butter.

AUB Faculty of Agriculture Dean Ammar Olabi, AREC’s Director Mustafa Haydar and TİKA’s Beirut Program Coordinator Orhan Aydın attended the opening ceremony. In his opening speech, Dean Olabi thanked the Republic of Turkey and TİKA for their support. AREC’s Director Haydar stated that they are grateful to Turkey for the improvement work and trainings organized for the facility, which has been closed for a long time due to the historical economic crisis in Lebanon, and expressed their desire to carry out more cooperation projects with TİKA in the field of agriculture and stockbreeding, which has now become much more important for Lebanon.

After the speeches, the opening event ended with a certificate ceremony for the farmers who participated to the training.