SHAFAQNA- Tuesday’s explosion destroyed the Lebanon’s only large grains silo, a UN official and a regional grain expert told Reuters.
“In terms of grain silos, that was the only major one,” Maurice Saade, the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) representative in Lebanon, told Reuters.
“The Beirut port silo main function is not meant to be for strategic grain reserves. Its main function is operational serving as temporary storage for imported grain until the grain is transported to the mills,” he said.
Lebanon, a nation of an estimated 6 million people, buys almost all of its wheat from abroad. The destruction of the 120,000-tonne capacity structure and of the port, the main entry point for food imports, exacerbating fears of food shortages.
The World Food Programme on Friday announced that it plans to import wheat flour and grains for bakeries and mills to help protect against food shortages across Lebanon, Reuters reported.