STRUGGLING LEBANESE FARMERS RETURN TO ILLEGAL CROP

A cannabis-eradication campaign worked. But nothing offered as an
alternative has been as lucrative as the drug plant.

HERMEL, Lebanon - Eight years after international pressure pushed the
Lebanese government to eradicate cannabis farming, the illicit crop has
made a strong comeback here in the fertile, sun-drenched Bekaa Valley.
Cannabis is the hemp plant from which marijuana and hashish are made.

"People are hungry; we need to feed our families. We know drugs are haram
[forbidden by God], but isn't starving your children haram too?" asked one
mother of six from the town of Hermel. For the first time in eight years,
she has planted 12 acres of marijuana. She knows she might go to jail for
this, but is willing to take the risk so she can afford to send her
children to school again.

Since 1992, the government has introduced all sorts of alternatives, from
sugar beets to dairy cows, but nothing has been as lucrative as cannabis.
Cannabis farming in the Bekaa Valley goes back centuries, but it boomed
during the 15-year Lebanese civil war, which started in 1975.

In the mid-1980s there were 150,000 acres of illicit crops here, and
Lebanon was high on the United States' list of drug-producing countries.
The eradication campaign eliminated an important source of illegal drugs
for Europe and the United States; it also left 25,000 families without an
income and cost the region about $500 million a year.

Nasser Ferjani, head of the U.N. program for Integrated Rural Development
in the area of Baalbeck-Hermel in the northern Bekaa, blames foreign donors
for failing to help support the farmers after getting rid of the marijuana.
The Lebanese government, burdened by a $25 billion debt, has little money
to offer.

"I warned the international community since we started in 1994, that in the
absence of substantive support to development efforts, farmers will return
to the illicit crops," Ferjani said.

This summer, an estimated 37,000 acres are planted with marijuana as
farmers give up on potatoes, which sell for 9 cents a pound, and revert to
cannabis, which can bring them up to $130 a pound.

Farmer Ali Hajj Hassan, 50, was hired by the U.N. program to guard a new
irrigation system for the fields around the village of Shaat in the Bekaa.
Although he is full of praise for the project that tries to encourage
farmers to stay away from cannabis, Hajj Hassan has planted some himself.

It is easy to understand why. Hajj Hassan paid $1.50 for a bag of birdseed,
from which he fished the cannabis seeds. His 9-by-22-foot plot will bring
him $200. In comparison, he says, he spends $175 on seeds, water and
plowing for a wheat crop that will bring him a mere $47.

"This little plot of hashish that you see will bring me more money than a
few hectares of wheat," he said. "This year, everybody is planting cannabis
again. If there is another eradication campaign this summer, there will be
riots."

The farmers are clinging to one last hope: a project started in 1999 by
Hassan Makhlouf, an agronomist who has done extensive research on
alternative crops. He proposes replacing cannabis with profitable crops
such as pistachios, saffron and capers. For an investment of $10 million,
he says, the crops could bring an annual revenue of $200 million into the
area. More than 700 enthusiastic farmers have participated in the project,
which has relied mainly on donations of saplings and seeds.

"One hectare [2.5 acres] of cannabis can bring as little as $2,000 to
$3,000, if there is a lot of supply," said Makhlouf, who grew up in the
Bekaa and whose father planted cannabis. "Saffron is very important and
expensive like gold. One hectare can give one kilogram [2.2 pounds] of
saffron, which will sell between $4,000 and $8,000. This is extraordinary
for a family of farmers."

Makhlouf, who lived in Paris for 12 years, was invited back by the Lebanese
antidrug squad, which was interested in his ideas and asked him to
implement them in Lebanon. Two years later, he says he is still waiting to
be officially hired and allowed to approach international donors.

Some farmers say they have been told the authorities will permit the
illicit crops this year because influential people are involved in the trade.