Bekaa Research Articles

Sexual and reproductive health focus group discussions with Syrian men and women living as refugees in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

BackgroundConflict in Syria since 2011 led to over one million Syrians fleeing to Lebanon, predominantly from economically disadvantaged areas with low literacy and high child marriage rates. Over 90% live in extreme poverty, in informal tented settlements with minimal access to education, healthcare or employment. Displacement and poverty have further increased early marriages and unplanned pregnancies, and curtailed access to sexual and reproductive healthcare (SRH) in the Bekaa valley. This is exacerbated by increasing rates of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), intimate partner violence and domestic violence.Study designWe aimed to explore SRH beliefs and practices and teach on key SRH topics through focus group discussions (FGD) and questionnaires, co-designed with Syrian practitioners, conducted with Syrian men and women. FGD were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Questionnaires collected demographics and explored SRH beliefs and practices.Findings24 FGD with 203 participants, 72.4% female and 27.6% men. 90.1% participants were married with an average age-gap of 6.3 years between partners. Teenage marriage rates were 55.6% for women, and 47.4% delivered their first child before the age of 20. 43.6% participants were not using any contraception. Findings demonstrate the impacts of SRH cultural norms and changes due to displacement, financial crisis, and increased exposure to technology and NGOs.ConclusionsSRH is multifaceted and contested, requiring systemic improvements in access to care, employment and education. This small but important proof-of-concept study demonstrates the possibility of engaging men and women in SRH discussion; paramount to empowering communities and challenging intergenerational SGBV.

Wastewater to Wetlands: Turning the Tide with Azolla Ferns

Water pollution is a major problem exacerbated by untreated wastewater discharged into the environment, leading to eutrophication and algal blooms. This research at the American University of Beirut explores the potential of using Azolla pinnata, an aquatic fern, to rid wastewater from ammonium (NH4-N) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), which are the main contributors to eutrophication. A controlled phytoremediation experiment conducted at the Advancing Research and Enabling Communities (AREC) center in the Bekaa valley showed that A. pinnata can decrease NH4-N and SRP in the primary treated wastewater by 98.2% and 96.4% respectively, within 20 days. The color and odor of treated wastewater reverted to the characteristics of fresh water, making this recycling method highly sustainable due to its relatively low cost. The prospective project would be scaled to the university’s farm level by constructing artificial wetlands at AREC using wastewater generated by the farm facilities. The harvested Azolla can be used as animal feed and/or as a green fertilizer. Successfully reintroducing the precarious wetlands in that arid region would alleviate the stress on aquifers and replenish many endemic species currently on their way to extinction. As a result, the university would be treating its wastewater in a sustainable way while contributing to greening the landscape slowly transfigured by desertification.

Adaptation of a Scientific Decision Support System to the Productive Sector—A Case Study: MOPECO Irrigation Scheduling Model for Annual Crops

Despite the great number of models developed in research projects, only a small percentage have been successfully transferred to the productive sector. The PRIMA programme supported by Horizon 2020, the European Union Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, aims to reverse this situation. The SUPROMED project funded by PRIMA sought to develop an online platform composed of several models adapted to the requirements of end users for increasing the economic and environmental sustainability of Mediterranean agricultural systems. MOPECO, in its research version, was designed to maximize the profitability of irrigated farms in water-scarce regions. A simplified version of this model (MOPECO irrigation scheduling) was included in the SUPROMED platform for improving irrigation efficiency, providing farmers with a useful irrigation scheduling software. This paper shows the approach to adapt and transfer MOPECO to the productive sector. The tool was validated in three different demosite areas across the Mediterranean, involving local stakeholders in the design, validation, and dissemination of the software. The simplified tool reached similar or higher yields than farmers using less water. Thus, the average water saved was around 16%, while the average yield increased around 10% in the plots located in the three demosites of the project (Eastern Mancha in Spain, Bekaa valley in Lebanon, and Sidi Bouzid in Tunisia). This fact decreased the water footprint and increased the profitability of farms. The high applicability of the tool has generated interest among many technicians, farmers, and advisory enterprises. Furthermore, regional and national governmental extension services have shown interest in spreading the use of the tool across their territories, validating the methodology used for adapting and transferring a scientific model to the productive sector.

Investigation on phytoplasma diseases of sweet pepper in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon

Investigation on phytoplasma diseases of sweet pepper in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon

The interaction between drought stress and nodule formation under multiple environments in chickpea.

Environmental stresses, particularly drought, limit symbiotic nitrogen fixation in legumes, resulting in decreased yielding capacity. Drought is one of the most important constraints limiting yield potential in crops and it is the major abiotic stress that can cause more than 70% yield loss in chickpea. In this study, a total of two hundred four chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genotypes were selected to study the interaction between drought stress and nodule formation. This interaction was assessed by using morphological, yield and yield components. The field experiments were laid out in two locations (Terbol and Kfardan stations, Bekaa valley, Lebanon) using Alpha lattice design with two replications and two watering treatments (irrigation and rainfed) during 2016 and 2017 seasons. Parameters that were measured include days to 50% flowering (DFL), day to maturity (DM), plant height (PLH), nodule biomass (NB), nodule fresh weight (NFW), nodule dry weight (NDW), grain yield (GY), Biological yield (BY), 100 seed weight (100SW) and drought tolerance stress (DTS). The results indicated a significant variation between genotypes, environments and other morphological, yield and yield components traits. Drought stress reduced significantly the yield and the nodule’s characteristics, biological and grain yield. The genotypes with the highest levels of drought tolerance, such as IG70399, IG8256, IG71832, IG70270, and IG70272, showed a minimal decrease in yield and nodule biomass. Nodule observations significantly and positively correlated with GY (0.36-0.38) under drought stress treatment. The correlation values for nodule characteristics with DFL and DM were higher under drought stress compared to irrigated conditions. This is a comparative study between drought stress and nodule formation traits associated with morphological, yield and yield components traits.

Cannabis detection from optical and RADAR data fusion: A comparative analysis of the SMILE machine learning algorithms in Google Earth Engine

Accurate crop mapping for agricultural monitoring requires the use of robust image classification algorithms. Cultivation of illegal cannabis is common in the Bekaa plain, Lebanon, as in some other areas of the world (Morocco, Afghanistan). Identification of cultivation sites is money and time consuming since it highly relies on knowledge of cultivation areas and field surveys. Machine-learning-based image classification provides an alternative method for cannabis detection. This paper presents a comparative analysis of four machine-learning classifiers implemented in Google Earth Engine: Random Forest (RF), Gradient Boosting (GBT), Classification and Regression Tree (CART), and Support Vector Machine (SVM) for cannabis and other crop type classification. We implement and test several image fusion approaches for optical (Sentinel-2, Landsat) and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery (Sentinel-1) along with several combinations of surface textural features from Sentinel-1. Six different crop groups were classified over three years (2016, 2017, and 2018) in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon. In general, although SVM outperformed RF, GBT, and CART classifiers with an overall classification accuracy of more than 90%, RF and GBT provided more consistent results in terms of the cannabis cultivated area. SVM appears to be sensitive to the size of the training data. RF and GBT estimate an average cannabis area of 2800 ha in 2016, 2983 ha in 2017, and 5900 ha in 2018. Our results demonstrate that the fusion of radar and optical imagery can improve image classification accuracy by up to 5%. A marginal improvement in overall accuracy was observed when textural features were added. This is the first study that used image fusion and ML to estimate illegal cannabis cultivation areas in Lebanon and help evaluate the contribution of cannabis to the local economy. The combination of machine learning algorithms and imagery fusion proved reliable for crop classification in general and cannabis in particular.

Validation of a new method for monitoring trace elements in Mediterranean cereal soils

ABSTRACT In the Mediterranean region, agricultural soils are seriously polluted with toxic trace elements (TEs) which could enter the food chain via the soil-plant trophic chain. For food safety reasons, the monitoring of TE concentrations in these agricultural soils is thus imperative. The most powerful monitoring method for TE measurements is based on perchloric acid (HClO4) and hydrofluoric acid (HF) digestion, commonly used as reference total digestion (RTD) method, with consequent use of inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Unfortunately, HF and HClO4 manipulations are highly dangerous and ICP-OES and ICP-MS apparatus are very expensive, thus they are unaffordable, notably in developing countries. In this paper, an alternative, microwave sulphuric digestion (MSD) method, combined with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) is proposed. First, the suggested method was validated on a soil certified reference material, for the determination of 7 TEs (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb). Second, the MSD method was applied on agricultural soil samples situated in the Bekaa valley, East Lebanon and results were compared to those of RTD method. The MSD method, coupled to AAS, offers a promising and feasible alternative to HF, as well as, aqua regia based methods.

Occurrence and Distribution of Major Viruses Infecting Eggplant in Lebanon and Molecular Characterization of a Local Potato Virus X Isolate

This research was carried out in order to evaluate the presence and distribution of viral infections causing severe disease in eggplant plants collected from different districts in Bekaa valley, Lebanon. Most infected plants showed virus-like symptoms consisting predominantly of leaf blotch, mottling chlorotic and ring spots; leaf twisting and plant dwarf were also observed in the visited fields. Symptomatic and asymptomatic plants were collected and screened by ELISA test for the presence of several different pathogenic viruses potentially present in the area. Results showed that potato virus Y (PVY) was the most prevalent virus found by ELISA (detected in the 15.3% of the tested plants), followed by eggplant mottled dwarf virus (EMDV, 2.9%) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV, 1.2%), while tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) and pepper mottle virus (PepMoV) were not detected. Biological indexing of symptomatic ELISA-negative plants, followed by electron microscopy, indicated the presence of virus-like particles of the genus Potexvirus, which was subsequently confirmed as potato virus X (PVX) by RT-PCR and Sanger sequencing. PVX was found in 35.3% of the tested plants, all sampled in the northern Bekaa area. In a phylogenetic analysis, the partial coat protein gene sequence of a selected Lebanese isolate, PVX-AK1, clustered together with other PVX isolates from Asia. Furthermore, the 124-aa sequence of PVX-AK1 shared 100% identity with PVX-UK3, an isolate which is known as avirulent in potato genotypes carrying either Nx or Rx resistance genes. This work revealed a picture of the previously uninvestigated phytosanitary status of eggplant crops in an important horticultural area of Lebanon.

Water Quality Study of Freshwater of Bekaa Valley to the Delta at Mediterranean Seawater in the region of Lebanon

The water quality of fresh water, springs and wells in Bekaa valley, mountain district, a region of Republic of Lebanon in connection/delta of Mediterranean sea (basin) is surveyed along the Lebanese north, central and south coast at Tripoli, Jounieh and Saida deltas respectively in which, Sannine Aquifer at Bekaa valley, the major groundwater source for the coastal area is in-direct contact with the sea. The thin freshwater lens (delta) is being heavily exploited in this area, where a large number of wells exist in the area passing coastal areas of Lebanon. Many of those wells are saline and are not suitable for direct domestic use or even for irrigation. This study deals with water quality study, general assessment of level of pollution and potential influence on seawater through analysis of Physico-Chemical parameters and selected Inorganic substances of water sample collected from south, central and north Lebanese coastal water among with major water natural resources at Bekaa valley.

An Introduction to Food Cooperatives in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon: Territorial Actors and Potential Levers to Local Development Through Culinary Heritage.

Economic development approaches are increasingly entailing local geographic scales and encouraging the mobilization and organization of territorial actors given local conditions and resources. Lebanon is a country facing frequent uncertainty with recent economic and social difficulties. Its popular cuisine may play a key role in its development and that of its rural space. In fact, that cuisine incorporates a traditional cultural practice called “Mouneh” which consists of preserved pantry foods, historically used to ensure household nutrition. Today, rural food cooperatives are engaging in that practice using agricultural produce from local farmers and are employing women. Despite strong internal and external challenges, they remain attractive actors as their principles of collective benefit, participation and democracy form a strong link with sustainable development goals. This study transversally analyzes the status of food cooperatives in a major agricultural region in Lebanon, the Bekaa valley. Findings mainly quantified size and production and provided a mapped representation of the spatial dependencies on local farmers versus urban markets for trade. With 75% women members and firm reputation in authenticity, food cooperatives in the Bekaa specifically and Lebanon generally are also extensively supported by donors but are being labeled as donor-dependent. Yet, cooperatives are localized in a largely agricultural territory with sufficient evidence of differentiation that could potentially be valorized. Hence, with optimal framing, regulation and networking of cooperatives, one can assume a protection of culinary heritage is possible with scalable contribution to food security and needed local development given major recent setbacks.

Monthly 10-m evapotranspiration rates retrieved by SEBALI with Sentinel-2 and MODIS LST data

Actual and potential evapotranspiration (ET) are important variables for regional and global environmental modelling. These elements provide better understanding and management of the hydrological cycle, particularly in relation to several environmental stresses affecting ecosystems. With the advancement of airborne techniques, remote sensing approaches have enabled an accurate estimation of crop actual ET with limited field visits. In this study, an enhanced version (i.e. m-SEBALI) of the improved surface energy balance model for land, surnamed SEBALI, will be presented. Main improvements concern the retrieval of 10-m ET values using Sentinel-2 images and MODIS Terra LST 1-km datasets. The other enhancement considers the usage of monthly-only climatic datasets, instead of the required hourly, daily and monthly data in SEBALI. Calibrations and validations were made in China, Belgium, Germany, Lebanon and Italy between 2013 and 2017, yielding adequate RSME (i.e. 20.06 mm/month) and AME (i.e. 15.69 mm/month) values. These countries represent four different climatic regions (i.e. continental semi-arid, Monsoon-influenced warm-summer humid continental, Mediterranean hot summer and Oceanic climates). Thus, Landast-8 thermal bands will be unnecessary to implement SEBALI. Also, the conversion between hourly and daily climatic data and monthly climatic datasets in SEBALI showed a Pearson value of 93.3 %. Thus, seven of the required inputs in SEBALI were eliminated in m-SEBALI, saving on time and resources. Furthermore, the wheat seasonal trend is produced in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, between November 2018 and July 2019, showing an average ET value of 620 mm in a region with 510 mm of precipitations during the same period. Two peaks were visible in January and May signaling the different wheat phenological stages. The importance of m-SEBALI lies in providing an automated retrieval of 10-m ET, biomass production and water productivity (WP), among other variables, in diverse climatic regions. Such improvements shall improve the assessment of ET and WP towards better management of water resources, particularly in regions lacking some required inputs.

Influence of storage conditions on quality and safety of eggs collected from Lebanese farms

Egg is considered a nutritionally complete food and an excellent source of protein. However, storing eggs for a prolonged period of time under uncontrolled temperature results in egg quality deterioration. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of storage conditions (time & temperature) on the egg's internal and external quality parameters as well as the microbiological load of eggs. For that purpose, a total of 2160 (white, brown vaccinated and brown non-vaccinated for salmonella) eggs were collected from Lebanese egg farmers in Bekaa valley and stored at 7 °C, 18 °C, 24 °C and 33 °C/20 °C (cyclic) for 2, 4 and 6 weeks. At each time point and temperature setting, 30 eggs were analysed for external and internal quality traits as well microbiological testing. Results showed that brown eggs had significantly higher weight (P < 0.001), shell thickness (P < 0.01), and darker yolk colour than white eggs. As the storage temperature and time increased, a decrease in Haugh unit (HU) and yolk colour was observed (p < 0.05). In addition, a decrease (p < 0.001) in the egg weight, specific gravity and shell thickness. For the eggs microbial analysis, a total absence was observed for eggs stored at 7 °C at all-time points. The results suggest that the interaction between temperature, time, and group significantly affect the eggs internal and external quality, by causing significant deterioration in HU, yolk colour, weigh, specific gravity, and shell thickness. This work has concluded that eggs should be stored at a refrigerated temperature (7 °C) for a period not exceeding 4 weeks.

Assessing the quality of sewage sludge as an agricultural soil amendment in Mediterranean habitats

PurposeMunicipal sewage sludge generated from three operational wastewater treatment plants, located in the Bekaa valley of Lebanon, was assessed for its potential use as agricultural soil amendment.MethodsSludge samples were taken from three treatment plants located in the villages of Iaat, Ablah and Joub Jannine during the summer season of 2018, from June to September, on a monthly basis. The evaluation was based on characterizing the physicochemical parameters such as the metal content, the pathogenic microorganisms (Salmonella, E.Coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Helminth eggs, Ascaris, Acinetobacter) and the phytotoxicity–stability indicators of the sludge samples.ResultsThe obtained results were compared to the Lebanese guidelines for sludge reuse in agriculture. For the physicochemical analysis, all the samples showed a possibility to be used in agriculture due to the high content of minerals and organic matter. Considering the metal content of sludge, Iaat and Ablah sludge were classified as Class A according to the Lebanese guidelines; however, sludge from Joub Janine was classified as B due to its high content of zinc that exceeded the limit of 700 ppm. Helminth eggs and Salmonella were absent in the sludge samples. Pathogenic organisms, mainly E. coli, were detected in Iaat dry sludge, Staphylococcus aureus was present in Joub Jannine sludge and Acinetobacter in Ablah station (> 100 CFU/100 g).ConclusionIt is recommended to submit the sludge which did not meet the required criteria, for further treatments, particularly the composting process to reduce the metal content and pathogenic microorganisms for a safer reuse in agriculture.

Farmers' Willingness to Pay for Establishing a Collective Postharvest Refrigeration Unit: Evidence from an Eastern Mediterranean Rural Community

One-third of crops harvested globally is lost due to inadequate or lack of postharvest storage facilities. This paper explores farmers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a common refrigeration unit to reduce postharvest losses in the Bekaa valley, a Lebanese breadbasket. Using the contingent valuation (CV) method—a survey-based economic technique used mainly for the valuation of nonmarket environ­men­tal and public goods—this study was con­ducted with a sample of farmers in selected village municipalities in the area under study. The results indicate that most farmers (72%) are highly concerned about postharvest losse, and that 80% were willing to pay varying amounts for the proposed initiative, with most WTP values fall­ing within the range of US$21–US$30 per month (31%). By contrast, a consid­erable proportion of the farmers (20%) were not willing to pay any fee for establishing the common refrigeration unit. Results further establish the different small-scale farmers’ characteristics and factors affecting WTP. Some factors including longer farming experience, higher variable costs associated with farming oper­ations, working year-round in farming, and access to wholesale markets, significantly increased WTP for access to a com­mon refrigeration unit, depend­ing on the type of cultivated crops. These results are of particular interest for developing relevant policies and informing decision-making intent to solve post­harvest management issues in developing econo­mies. This study establishes the importance of offering refrigeration services at discounted or subsidized prices to smaller farmers as a public good aimed at promoting agrarian and rural development. See the press release for this article.

Investigating Pneumonia Etiology Among Refugees and the Lebanese population (PEARL): A study protocol.

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), a leading cause of mortality, mainly affects children in developing countries. The harsh circumstances experienced by refugees include various factors associated with respiratory pathogen transmission, and clinical progression of CAP. Consequently, the etiology of CAP in humanitarian crisis situations may differ to that of settled populations, which would impact appropriate case management. Therefore, the Pneumonia Etiology Among Refugees and the Lebanese population (PEARL) study was initiated with the objective of identifying the causal pathogenic microorganisms in the respiratory tract of children and adults from both the refugee and host country population presenting with signs of CAP during a humanitarian crisis. Methods: PEARL, a prospective, multicentric, case-control study, will be conducted at four primary healthcare facilities in Tripoli and the Bekaa valley over 15 months (including two high-transmission seasons/winters). Sociodemographic and medical data, and biological samples will be collected from at least 600 CAP cases and 600 controls. Nasopharyngeal swabs, sputum, urine and blood samples will be analyzed at five clinical pathology laboratories in Lebanon to identify the bacterial and viral etiological agents of CAP. Transcriptomic profiling of host leukocytes will be performed. Conclusions: PEARL is an original observational study that will provide important new information on the etiology of pneumonia among refugees, which may improve case management, help design antimicrobial stewardship interventions, and reduce morbidity and mortality due to CAP in a humanitarian crisis.

Ecogeographic survey and gap analysis for Medicago L.: recommendations for in situ and ex situ conservation of Lebanese species

Medics (Medicago spp.) are among the most important pasture legumes of temperate regions. Lebanon is considered as a part of the Mediterranean biodiversity hotspot in Medics. Its flora including more than 35 species of medics, most of which, not unlike this country’s flora, are threatened. To alleviate these threats, large accessions of Medicago were collected for ex situ conservation; however, some species are underrepresented and sometimes not represented in genebanks, and many species are not protected, particularly because of the lack of in situ conservations strategies. In this study, we produced an updated checklist and distribution maps of Lebanese medics. Later we identified priority species for collection and priority areas for ecogeographic surveys and conservation by using gap analysis. Out of the 37 species reported from Lebanon, six were found to be priority species for collecting. Gap analysis also revealed that priority areas for surveying and conservation are located mostly in the northern, southern and eastern parts of the country. Out of the currently established natural reserves, the Shouf Cedar Reserve had the highest diversity of Medicago species. Beirut and Tripoli (both major coastal cities) and Zahle (one of the major cities in the Bekaa valley) have excellent to very highly suitable sites with the highest genetic diversity of medics. Therefore, they constitute with areas along the northern border of the country, priority locations for establishing in situ conservation sites (genetic reserves) because the two locations are very rich in priority species. Other priority species are found in the southern part of Lebanon and could be ex situ conserved.

LoRaWAN Network: Radio Propagation Models and Performance Evaluation in Various Environments in Lebanon

Recently, LoRaWAN has emerged as a promising technology for the Internet of Things (IoT), owing its ability to support low-power and long-range communications. However, real-world deployment and network optimization require accurate path-loss (PL) modeling, so as to estimate network coverage, performance, and profitability. For that reason, in this paper, LoRaWAN radio channel is investigated in the 868 MHz band. Extensive measurement campaigns were carried out in both indoor and outdoor environments at urban and rural locations in Lebanon (Saint Joseph University of Beirut campus, Beirut city, and Bekaa valley). Based on empirical results, PL models are developed for LoRaWAN communications and compared with widely used empirical models. Moreover, the performance and the coverage of LoRaWAN deployment are evaluated based on real measurements. The results show that the proposed PL models are accurate and simple to be applied in Lebanon and other similar locations. Coverage ranges up to 8 and 45 km were obtained in urban and rural areas, respectively. This reveals the reliability of this promising technology for long-range IoT communications.

Investigating Pneumonia Etiology Among Refugees and the Lebanese population (PEARL): A study protocol

Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), a leading cause of mortality, mainly affects children in developing countries. The harsh circumstances experienced by refugees include various factors associated with respiratory pathogen transmission, and clinical progression of CAP. Consequently, the etiology of CAP in humanitarian crisis situations may differ to that of settled populations, which would impact appropriate case management. Therefore, the Pneumonia Etiology Among Refugees and the Lebanese population (PEARL) study was initiated with the objective of identifying the causal pathogenic microorganisms in the respiratory tract of children and adults from both the refugee and host country population presenting with signs of CAP during a humanitarian crisis. Methods: PEARL, a prospective, multicentric, case-control study, will be conducted at four primary healthcare facilities in Tripoli and the Bekaa valley over 15 months (including two high-transmission seasons/winters). Sociodemographic and medical data, and biological samples will be collected from at least 600 CAP cases and 600 controls. Nasopharyngeal swabs, sputum, urine and blood samples will be analyzed at five clinical pathology laboratories in Lebanon to identify the bacterial and viral etiological agents of CAP. Transcriptomic profiling of host leukocytes will be performed. Conclusions: PEARL is an original observational study that will provide important new information on the etiology of pneumonia among refugees, which may improve case management, help design antimicrobial stewardship interventions, and reduce morbidity and mortality due to CAP in a humanitarian crisis.

Time series trends of Landsat-based ET using automated calibration in METRIC and SEBAL: The Bekaa Valley, Lebanon

The Bekaa Valley in Lebanon currently hosts the highest number of refugees per capita in the world. It is also the primary agricultural production area in the country. Groundwater levels in some regions of the valley have decreased by >15 m in the last five years. Water use estimates at the regional and the field scale for this valley are crucial for enhancing resilience and for managing competing sectorial water demands. In this research, we derive a novel time series of field-scale actual evapotranspiration for the Bekaa Valley using two one-source energy balance models for the period 1984–2017, utilizing local weather data and all available original Level 1 Landsat thermal imagery and Level 2 surface reflectance products. We compare a modified METRIC model with an automated hot and cold pixel identification procedure run in batch mode to pySEBAL, a new version of SEBAL, which also has its automated anchors pixel selection algorithm. Analysis of 1200 cloud-masked and gap-filled Landsat-derived ET products show that the two models give comparable water use estimates at the seasonal and annual time steps. We estimate an average annual ET of 652 ± 53 mm (or 800 mcm) over the heavily cultivated valley in the last 34 years (with high agreement between both METRIC and pySEBAL models). Most (64%) of the ET is consumed from blue water in the dry season of May–October. ET in the wet season of November–April consumes >70% of the precipitation in the Bekaa valley. Annual analysis shows no discernable trend in ET across the valley, but there is an increase in irrigated agriculture in the Orontes Basin in the last five years. METRIC yields 15% higher ET than pySEBAL for the non-agricultural lands in summer. A water balance analysis shows that groundwater storage in the Litani basin is decreasing at a rate of 330 ± 50 mm yr−1. The outcome of this research also offers unique opportunities for estimating past and future trends of groundwater withdrawals. Results can provide insights into the sustainability of irrigated agriculture and the required international interventions in the water sector for enhancing the resilience of refugee and local communities.

Volunteering with Syrian American Medical Society: in Lebanon's Bekaa valley.

> ‘If you truly believe that all humans are created equal; you can’t sit back and watch people live lives of utter desperation and suffering; for no reason but the circumstance of their birth.’1 Nervously, she lifted her scarf to reveal her nearly bald head. Only threads remained. Her husband had been shot by a sniper while on his way to buy bread for the family. Heartbroken, she brought her children to the clinic in search of cures for their enuresis, faltering growth, and night terrors. Stress had taken its toll; her body cried the tears she could not shed in front of her five fatherless children. With a pre-war population of 22 million, half of Syria’s population are now refugees or IDPs (internally displaced people), and even more are in need of humanitarian aid. Almost a million dwell in neighbouring Lebanon, but …