Traditional Knowledge and Climate-Resilient Agrobiodiversity: Pathways to Sustainable Food Systems in Lebanon

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-666-1_46How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Lebanon; Agrobiodiversity; Traditional knowledge; Climate resilience practices; Traditional food; Circular economy

Abstract

Lebanon’s diverse agroecosystems sustain rich agrobiodiversity, shaped by centuries of traditional knowledge (TK) that underpins climate-resilient and multifunctional food systems. This study documents TK across coastal plains, inland valleys, mountain terraces, and highland pastures, highlighting how farmers, pastoralists, and women’s networks maintain crop diversity, local livestock breeds, and wild edible plants. Key practices include terracing, agroforestry, intercropping, seed saving and exchange, rotational grazing, water harvesting, and traditional food systems, which collectively enhance soil fertility, conserve resources, support ecosystem services, and buffer communities against climatic variability. TK is deeply embedded in socio-cultural systems: women and elders act as custodians of seeds, culinary traditions, and ecological knowledge, while pastoralist networks sustain rotational grazing and landscape stewardship. Agrobiodiversity traditional food reinforces circular economy pathways linking crop, livestock, and wild plant management in closed-loop systems that support sustainable livelihoods. Farm-to-fork initiatives and agritourism further integrate TK with economic resilience and heritage preservation. Despite its adaptive value, TK faces growing threats from climate change, rural outmigration, and generational knowledge gaps. Strengthening intergenerational transfer, policy support, and market-oriented approaches is essential to safeguard Lebanon agrobiodiversity heritage and enhance the resilience of its food systems under a changing climate.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Lamis Chalak
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/07
TI  - Traditional Knowledge and Climate-Resilient Agrobiodiversity: Pathways to Sustainable Food Systems in Lebanon
BT  - Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Research of Agricultural and Food Technologies (I-CRAFT 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 496
EP  - 526
SN  - 3005-155X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-666-1_46
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-666-1_46
ID  - Chalak2026
ER  -