Around 1,500 of the 1,950 registered children in the US-sponsored Bsherri community development program, North Lebanon, will be directly affected by the significant loss in apple crops that the area suffered last week.

'Bsherri heavily relies on apple production and those children's parents work as apple farmers,' said Kozhaya Hanna, Bsherri program manager.

'A loss in the family's income will automatically impact the child's well-being in terms of education, health and hygiene needs,' Hanna said.


Bsherri, a conglomeration of 22 villages in North Lebanon, is known for its good quality apples that are cultivated between altitudes of 1,400-1,850 meters.

'The area is prone to strong winds every year between September 25 and October 5,' Hanna said, adding that by this time of year, the apples would still need around 10 days to mature.

'If the strong winds occur before the apples are collected, the best of those apples fall onto the ground and are damaged,' he said.

This year's strong winds caused 35 percent of the 16,000 tons (approximately 6,000 tons) of Bsherri's apple production to be damaged.

None of World Vision's Lebanon organic apple farmers were affected as they cultivated their crops before the strong winds' aggression.


An additional threat is wildfires, which firefighters have been battling in steep valleys in several mountainous areas of Lebanon since October 3. The fires have charred thousands of trees and damaged or destroyed several homes.

Civil Defense workers, backed by Lebanese Army helicopters, struggled to extinguish blazes in the North and in the Chouf mountains east of Beirut.

None of World Vision's organic agriculture centers or sponsored children has been affected by the fires.