THINKING AHEAD

The government said Monday that it would soon release a new plan to fight
the resurgence of drug cultivation, but what sounds like a good idea will
only work if Beirut keeps its word by developing realistic new policies and
convincing the international community to honor its commitments. The latter
point has been made ad nauseam, but never very effectively, so Beirut needs
to trumpet the shameful behavior of the United Nations on this front.

The formula was simple: Beirut agreed to crack down on hashish and opium
growers, and the UN promised to provide funding to help the farmers in
question plant new crops that would help them escape the cycle of poverty
that forced them into illicit cultivation in the first place. With
astonishing effectiveness, the Lebanese government has sharply reduced the
amount of land being used to grow illegal drug crops. This was no mean feat
for a tiny nation whose government was still trying to recover from the
anarchy of a long civil war. But with the UN promise in hand, Beirut
rightly reasoned that painful steps had to be taken.

But then the UN ignored its pledge, allowing the farmers to become
destitute again and eventually forcing them to resume their illegal
activities. Unlike other, more complicated, instances, placing blame is a
simple exercise in this one: A massive international body convinced farmers
to risk their livelihoods and then abandoned them and their desperate families.

Standing up for these people on the global stage, however, is only part of
the government's responsibility. Even if the UN never pays a dime of its
moral/monetary debt, Beirut has an obligation to help all of the country's
citizens, especially those in impoverished areas. It is therefore
encouraging to hear that several ministries are joining forces to come up
with a course of action.

The new program is being touted as one that will finally address more than
just symptoms and instead seek to root out the underlying causes of misery
in the agricultural sector. If true, this will be far more effective in the
long term than the ill-conceived quick-fix options generally advanced by
this and previous governments.

By giving farmers the right kind of assistance (i.e. help in planting and
marketing new crops such as organic and/or exotic fruits and vegetables)
when they need it (i.e. now), the government will be breaking with an
ignominious past and investing in what might well be a lucrative future.

Finally, Beirut will have to display more than just good intentions. Real
help for farmers will require that spending be carefully targeted at
productive crops and protected from the swindlers who are certain to
materialize. Doing this will require a level of administrative stamina
hitherto unseen in Lebanese government circles.

There is a lesson in all of this for both Beirut and the United Nations: As
ye reap, so shall ye sow.