Good agricultural practices emerged as a common priority in Egypt and Lebanon during the initial meetings that were held as part of the ENPARD South Support Programme. Following which, there was a mutual agreement between ENPARD, the Egyptian and Lebanese think tank to organise in each country a national workshop based on this theme, and a sub-regional workshop in order to discuss the results of these workshops and exchange on the implementation of this issue in their national agricultural policies.
​
Both countries do not have a specific policy on the implementation of good agricultural practices despite addressing this concept in several policy papers; where to some extent some measures have been implemented and projects were developed locally. After discussing the concept of good agricultural practices and contextualising the issue, the workshops aimed to identify the constraints and needs related to the implementation of a good agricultural practices policy that would improve the economic, commercial, social and environmental efficiency of local agriculture by focusing on a set of more efficient practices, market requirements and taking into account social equity.
​
During the presentations and relying particularly on the European experience in this area, good agricultural practices were tackled in different perspectives (GAP, free-trade and exports; GAP and scientific research; GAP and climate change, GAP and European Neighborhood Policy…). The conditions and obstacles facing the implementation of good agricultural practices policy have also been debated in the context of each country.
​
These meetings have resulted in action proposals aiming at establishing joint initiatives on good agricultural practices at the national and sub-regional level. At national level, it has been suggested to distribute to producers and their organisations a brochure based on the implementation of GAP and aiming to deliver a set of practical advices to the farmers on GAP. Another outcome that was largely praised was the establishment of an “Arab GAP”, which would support the countries in developing their strategies for producing safe and healthy food and capitalize national initiatives to promote integration of trade on a large scale in the Arab world, the stakeholders highlighted the importance of trade liberalisation in the Arab world in parallel to the current targeting of the EU market.
​
Following these workshops, the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture requested to pursue the discussions initiated during the seminars by establishing a territory-based diagnosis of six agricultural sectors (olive oil, milk, citrus fruits, honey, apples and tomatoes) to evaluate the potential impact of the implementation of good practices. An analytical framework have been developed for each of these production chains in order to support the diagnosis in terms of strength and weakness and to assess the possibility of implementing specific programs to promote good agricultural practices in these sectors. In the coming months, action plans will be developed by stakeholders and, by the end of June, two production chains will be selected and good agricultural practices projects will be presented to the technical and financial partners, towards a fruitful collaboration.
