Gardening in the context of forced displacement. An exploratory case study of Syrian forcibly displaced people in the Bekaa, Lebanon.

In Lebanon, a country struggling with a multitude of intertwined crises, the arrival of more than 1.5 million forcibly displaced people has exacerbated an already complex situation. A significant number of these people are unregistered and currently face the threat of deportation to Syria. The plight of these refugees encompasses a web of legal, economic and social challenges, one of the most pressing being food and nutrition insecurity. Unfortunately, attempts to alleviate this problem by distributing cash or food aid have inadvertently fostered dependency among the refugee population. The aim of this paper is to examine gardening as a hands-on solution to address concrete challenges on the ground, using Lebanon as an example, and in particular the situation of Syrians in the Bekaa region. An extensive literature review on the various challenges faced by the country's population and in particular the displaced Syrians is combined with empirical research on the ground through key informant interviews. This paper argues that given the holistic health and food production benefits of gardening, and since many refugees are already engaged in or have experience in agriculture - albeit often based on economic exploitation due to a lack of legal regulations and protection -, integrating gardening activities into the provision of humanitarian assistance can be an effective and sustainable tool to help address various challenges such as food and nutrition insecurity, and to promote refugees' well-being and enhance their self-confidence and sense of dignity, while benefiting the wider natural and social environment.