Program Overview
Atayeb Al Rif (literally “Rural Delights” in Arabic) cooperative was established initially as a byproduct of a USAID funded development program implemented by YMCA of Lebanon and aimed at providing rural women in Lebanon with income generation opportunities.
Soon after, the program established women owned food processing centers that were linked to the newly formed Atayeb Al Rif Coop for marketing their produce.
Today, Atayeb Al Rif is an organization that works closely with agricultural, artisanal and productive cooperatives on three key tracks aimed generally at improving their services and production:
- Capacity building and training services especially on agricultural practices, food processing, small business management, marketing and sales techniques especially for cooperatives and quality control procedures.
- Capacity building and enhancing skills of artisanal training and cooperatives.
- Marketing tools and linkages which are appropriate and suitable to the production capacities of the cooperatives as well as enhancing its image.
- Quality control and assurance of the production.
Synopsis of Marketed Produce
Atayeb al Rif specializes in traditional Lebanese food that is totally free of any additives or preservatives. Briefly, Atayeb Al Rif strives to maintain the exquisite traditional food print of Lebanon by helping traditional producers become sellers by achieving high quality and production standards level.
The produce, which comes from the different parts of the rural counterpart of the country, includes a wide variety of Lebanese tasty delicacies such as:
- Jams and preserves:
Background
Atayeb Al Rif (literally “Rural Delights” in Arabic) cooperative was established initially as a byproduct of a USAID funded development program implemented by YMCA of Lebanon and aimed at providing rural women in Lebanon with income generation opportunities.
Soon after, the program established women owned food processing centers that were linked to the newly formed Atayeb Al Rif Coop for marketing their produce.
Today, Atayeb Al Rif is an organization that works closely with agricultural, artisanal and productive cooperatives on three key tracks aimed generally at improving their services and production:
Capacity building and training services especially on agricultural practices, food processing, small business management, marketing and sales techniques especially for cooperatives and quality control procedures.
Capacity building and enhancing skills of artisanal training and cooperatives.
Marketing tools and linkages which are appropriate and suitable to the production capacities of the cooperatives as well as enhancing its image.
Quality control and assurance of the production.
- strawberry, apricot, peach, cherry, fig and others.
- Pickles, cucumbers, wild cucumbers, mixed vegetables.
- Food preserved in oil: eggplants with nuts, dairy products and others.
- Syrups: mulberry, apricot, rose, citrus.
- Distilled waters: rose, blossom orange, sage, thyme and others.
- Sun dried products: tomato, cherries, prune paste.
- Compotes: peach, cherry, mixed fruits and others.
- Pastes: hot sauces, concentrated tomato paste.
- Exquisite toppings: pomegranate molasses, sour grape and others.
- Handicrafts as accessories, crochet, knitting, regular/scented candles and soap based on olive oil.
The cooperative currently follows-up with the sales, distribution and marketing of the cooperative’s products in all Lebanese territory and is working on expanding its market. Atayeb Al Rif always follows a policy for encouraging innovation, which helps introduce new products to the market, along with the policy of maintaining the highest possible level of quality.
Some Achievements during the last 3 years
Contacts and services:
- Capacity building of 50 cooperatives in South Lebanon, with the UNDP.
- Building linkages between some women’s cooperatives and associations active in Lebanon, with MEPI.
- Marketing the products from Lebanese areas prone to desertification and marketing wild oregano (Origanum syriacum) and wild sage (Salvia fruticosa), in a process aimed to regulate the random and un-planned harvesting of these plants, with the UNDP.
- Signing contracts with multiple institutions, including ADR, Renee Moawad Foundation and Batrouniyat Association, aimed to train cooperatives on the concept of cooperative law and their subsequent accounting, proper food production and processing under hygienic conditions, as well as training on the skills of handicrafts and soap production.
- Enhancing the economic status of Syrian refugees and their hosting families through training on various food production and processing as well as handicraft and soap production, in four areas across Lebanon, with the U.S. Embassy.
- Quick income generating tool in order to enhance the economic status of women in North Lebanon through training on artisanal handicraft and soap making skills; as hand-made accessories, crochets and soap decorations, with the DAI.
- Accelerated vocational training with Save the Children with Syrian refugees and the Lebanese hosting community.
- Intensive training sessions on the awareness on Agriculture including IPM, Global Gap, new verities, plantation …etc.
- SOFAIR – projecting in partnership with Fair Trade Lebanon on expanding the market of 22 cooperatives and SMEs from all Lebanese areas, locally and internationally.
