Challenges

2022 Call for Innovations Challenge:

Cherry production is one of the unexplored value chains that offers great potential and added value for export. The soil and the sun in Lebanon are two important factors that produce high quality products. However, farmers suffer from a lack of knowledge related to good agricultural practices, post-harvest procedures, and market accessibility.

2024 Open Call for Innovations Challenge:

In Lebanon, farmers have difficulty selling their Grade B and C produce on the market due to customer preferences. Consumers prefer fruit that does not have dents, deformations, or irregular color patterns; and fruit buyers in the hotel, restaurant, and catering sector also avoid Grade B and C produce. This avoidance forces farmers to sell in the wholesale market where crops are often sold at cost or at a loss. Unsold produce goes to waste.

At the same time, there has been an increase in demand for dried fruits. However, the units that are used to fry fruit are unaffordable for most farmers.

Solutions

2022 Call for Innovations Solution:

Natagri’s solution provides the necessary services and guidance to produce high quality cherries according to international specifications. They improve farmers’ livelihoods by reducing water consumption, optimizing irrigation efficiency, preparing a post-harvest unit certified and ready for packing the products, and exporting them to high value markets.

Farmers receive tools to help in the water management as well as trainings and one-to-one coaching on the cherry’s pest management and agricultural practices. The company also supports the post-harvest unit on many levels to improve and increase the production and have a competitive price.

2024 Open Call for Innovations Solution:

Natagri offers an alternative to farmers’ crops being lost by creating dried fruit products.The innovator buys fruit at a fair price from the farmer, then processes it into dried packaged fruits. Micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, as well as farmers, can Natagri as a service center. This solution ensures that the resources used to grow the fruit do not go to waste, the food itself is used and not lost, and the farmers can increase their income.

As the units invested in by Natagri are not affordable to most farmers, the innovator is studying the feasibility of setting up more units closer to the farmers’ grounds and potentially implementing a lease-to-own model.