UN: over 22% of Lebanon's farmland damaged, with $530m lost in the south

More than 22 percent of Lebanon's agricultural land has been reported affected or damaged, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's deputy director-general, Beth Bechdol, told AFP in Beirut. She put the figure at 56,000 hectares, including land that was burned or physically destroyed.

A UN-backed assessment by Lebanese authorities in June estimated agricultural production losses in the south this year at no less than $530 million, according to the same reports. Bechdol said farmers can no longer reach their fields, and that markets and access to inputs such as fertiliser have been disrupted.

She also voiced concern about soil contamination from unexploded ordnance and military residue, and said the FAO is discussing possible partnerships on de-mining in the south.

Farming is central to livelihoods in the south. Rebuilding it, and clearing the land safely, will be a test of the state's ability to bring its citizens home to their fields.