Feature: Withering harvests -- climate and conflict are starving Lebanon's orchards

Under a harsh autumn sun, 60-year-old Mohammad Shibli stood among his withering apple trees near the village of Al-Habbariyeh in southeastern Lebanon. His gaze drifted from the few, shriveled fruits left on the branches to the nearby Israeli military positions across the tense border.

"This year's season is the weakest in years," Shibli said, picking the few marketable apples left in his orchard. "We're suffering from drought, erratic weather, scarce irrigation water, and soaring costs -- on top of the looming security risks and Israeli restrictions that hinder our access to the fields."

From Al-Habbariyeh to Baalbek in the east and Bekaa in the west, Lebanon's once-flourishing orchards are showing signs of decay. Farmers are reporting sharp declines in apples, peaches, pears, and grapes, with many fruits drying up before ripening, inflicting heavy financial losses.

In Baalbek, farmer Ramez Haddad harvested fewer than 900 boxes of cherries, pears, and peaches this year, down from over 4,000 in previous seasons. "The trees bore fewer fruits, and the orchards looked less alive than ever before," he said.

Asaad Harfoush, a farmer in Bekaa, described the situation as "unprecedented."

"The fruits are yellowed and shriveled from the heat and lack of water," he said. "The soil is cracked, the trees exhausted, and even the few remaining fruits risk spoiling before reaching the market."

Agricultural engineer Salim Hmaidane explained that climate change has become "a decisive factor" in the decline. "Higher temperatures, lower rainfall, and prolonged droughts have directly affected the growth of trees, even those known to resist arid conditions," he said.

The crisis is tightening economic pressure on rural families who rely on farming as their main income. Marai Saasou, head of the Agricultural Cooperative in southeastern Lebanon's Hasbaya, called this season "the worst in decades."

"We sell fruit boxes at a loss just to avoid total spoilage," Saasou told Xinhua. "The sun scorched the fruit before ripening, water was not enough, and fuel and fertilizer prices are higher than ever."

Michel Afram, director general of the Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute, said "a 30-percent decline in rainfall and a two-degree Celsius rise in temperature have directly affected flowering and yields in fruit trees."

Ibrahim Tarshishi, head of the farmers' association in Bekaa, said that "temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius severely affected fruit trees and their quality."

And on top of climate change is the Israel-Hezbollah conflict. Although a ceasefire between the two sides has been in place since November 2024, Israel continues near-daily strikes in Lebanon, claiming to eliminate Hezbollah "threats," and maintains its forces at five main points along the Lebanese border. Lebanon and several international organizations have condemned the attacks as violations of the truce.

A 2025 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that Lebanon's agriculture sector incurred 118 million U.S. dollars in damages and 586 million dollars in losses between October 2023 and November 2024, primarily in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. Crops were the hardest hit, with losses valued at 533.5 million dollars.

The report recommended a 263-million-dollar recovery plan to restore production and food security, prioritizing seed and fertilizer distribution, farmland rehabilitation, and climate-smart agriculture, among others.

Meanwhile, former Lebanese Agriculture Minister Abbas Hajj Hassan noted that the conflict has reduced agricultural exports by 25-30 percent, harming a sector that contributes about seven percent to Lebanon's GDP and supports roughly 15 percent of its population.

"We have spent years caring for these trees, but this year we reaped only disappointment. Climate change and border instability have devastated our fruit harvests," Shibli lamented. For farmers like him across Lebanon, each brittle branch seemed to echo the same story no statistic can capture.