Food insecurity in Lebanon is easing slightly but remains dangerously fragile as the country enters 2026, new analysis shows. Lebanon’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World Food Programme (WFP) found that about 874,000 people—17 percent of the population studied—are facing crisis or emergency levels of hunger between November 2025 and March 2026. That’s some improvement from earlier periods, but many families are barely holding on and could quickly slide backward if hit by economic, political, or security shocks.
The assessment, covering November 2025 to July 2026, used the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system. For the first time, it includes people who arrived from Syria after December 2024, capturing new displacement patterns.
Some areas are getting hit harder than others. Parts of Baalbek, El Hermel, Akkar, Baabda, Zahle, Saida, Bent Jbeil, Marjayoun, El Nabatieh, and Tyre face multiple pressures—conflict damage, displacement, struggling livelihoods, and poor access to basic services. Refugee communities are suffering especially badly. Between April and July 2026, the number of food-insecure people is expected to climb to around 961,000—18 percent of the population. The main drivers: anticipated cuts in humanitarian aid, ongoing economic troubles, high living costs, slow recovery of jobs and income, continued displacement, and delays rebuilding damaged infrastructure.
Farming is recovering slowly and unevenly. Damaged irrigation systems, broken roads, wrecked storage facilities, expensive inputs, and repeated droughts keep limiting production in the Bekaa and southern areas.
“Small-scale farmers remain among the most affected, with around half reporting a decline in their main source of income due to conflict impacts and a prolonged dry spell,” said Nora Ourabah Haddad, FAO’s representative in Lebanon.
An exceptionally dry 2024-2025 season made things worse by cutting water supplies for key crops.
Agriculture Minister Dr. Nizar Hani said the country needs more than handouts to fix food security—it needs real investment in local farming, protection of natural resources, and support for rural communities. Anne Valand, WFP’s representative in Lebanon, warned that families are “one shock away from slipping back into acute food insecurity” and stressed that steady assistance is crucial to stop things from getting worse.
