Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Project: Evaluation Report

The Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) project was the first nation-wide and so far largest organic agriculture project in Lebanon. It was designed and implemented by World Vision Lebanon (WVL) and funded with a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for $4,956,045, with additional match from World Vision ($815,000) and the community ($514,670). The total project budget was $6,285,715. The duration of the project was from November 7, 2002 through November 6, 2005.

It has been designed with a goal to improve the quality of living for people in Lebanon through expanded economic opportunities in organic agriculture. Its strategic objective is “Improving the quality of life of farmers and their families through adopting new agricultural techniques related to organic farming.” The project aims at establishing the infrastructure for organic agriculture in a comprehensive approach with different components regarding extensions on agricultural techniques, agro-processing and marketing.

SARD had three intermediate results, namely (IR1) increased access of farmers to new agricultural techniques; (IR2) increased access to agro-packaging and processing units; and (IR3) improved capacity to market agricultural products.