A prior assessment was conducted to identify the needs of cooperatives to establish new services with a focus on downstream activities related to value chain development, marketing, aggregation, distribution, as well as efforts that could lead to significant input cost reduction. The assessment concluded that the establishment of such activities could contribute to strengthening economic resilience, sustainability and ultimately growth of these cooperatives.

The training was based on the adaptation of the ILO Start.COOP and My.COOP modules to address specific needs of cooperatives aiming to strengthen their impact by introducing new services. A total of 26 persons from nine cooperatives participated in the training which addressed the following topics: a recall of cooperative principles, identification of additional services with a new business idea, and researching the feasibility of the business idea.

At the end of the training, participants were able to develop key elements of their business plans, including a 5P marketing strategy and financial projections. Business plans included the establishment of an irrigation network to reduce farmers cost, strengthening olive oil export channels, developing an apple vinegar production line, and establishing traditional food preservation (mouneh) production.

As next steps, the ILO will assess the business plans in coordination with the trained cooperatives. On that basis, it will provide one-to-one technical coaching, as well as potential financial grants, to support selected cooperatives in the realization and operationalization of the business plans they developed during the training. Finally, the ILO is looking into scaling-up the intervention to other cooperatives in Beqaa, Akkar and North-Lebanon with the involvement of the Directorate of Cooperatives in the Ministry of Agriculture.