logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2022
18m 19s

Lebanon's wheat crisis

Bbc World Service
About this episode

The price of bread is soaring in Lebanon. More than half of the country's wheat imports came from Ukraine - they've now stopped because of the conflict.

Inflation also continues to rise to record levels. We speak to ordinary people who are struggling to buy food. Brant Stewart, the founder of Mavia Bakery in Beirut, explains how he's found a solution in growing and milling his own wheat - as well as helping local women.

Rami Zurayk, the Director of the Food Security programme at the American University of Beirut, tells us he believes Lebanese people need to be less reliant on bread in their diet.

Presenter: Anna Foster Producer: Jo Critcher

(Picture: Women at work in Mavia Bakery; Credit: Maria Klenner, photographer)

Up next
Yesterday
Spain's power blackout: what went wrong?
On the morning of the 28th of April, Spain lost electric power equivalent to that generated by ten nuclear plants, leaving the whole of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal and parts of France, without electricity for up to 12 hours. We examine the cause of the blackout that ... Show More
17m 28s
Aug 21
Business Daily meets: Spencer Horne
The South African entrepreneur tells us about his experience growing up under the apartheid regime, before securing a scholarship that would take him to Harvard University in the US.He's now returned home to set up Cloudline, an airship company which aims to deliver goods and car ... Show More
17m 29s
Aug 20
Are you a personality hire?
The trend has taken off on social media as it's resonated with office workers around the world. So what value does an extroverted colleague bring to a company? And is it fair, or even legal, for businesses to recruit for specific personality types?Produced and presented by Imran ... Show More
17m 28s
Recommended Episodes
Jun 2023
How Lebanon’s economy collapsed
Protests, power cuts and bank hold-ups – Lebanon was already struggling before the 2020 port explosion that devasted its capital, Beirut, but now it’s in a desperate economic collapse. The Lebanese people are struggling to buy basic food and medicine. And the country also hosts t ... Show More
18m 56s
Sep 2020
Testing the limits of Lebanese resilience in Beirut
The Lebanese are having to marshal the strength it takes to rebuild — again. No one could have prepared the country for the August 4 explosion at Beirut's port, which killed 190 people, injured thousands, and left some 300,000 homeless. The city is coming together to get through ... Show More
22m 14s
Oct 2018
EPISODE 1 - Food Culture - The common denominator for fatteh is the bread
35m 15s
Feb 2020
Panera Bread/Au Bon Pain: Ron Shaich (2018)
In the early 1980s, Ron Shaich bought a small, struggling Boston bakery chain called Au Bon Pain, and built it out to 250 locations nationwide. Ron then saw an opportunity to build something even bigger: Panera Bread. It was the start of "fast casual" – a new kind of eating exper ... Show More
42m 9s
Aug 2020
What’s gone wrong in Lebanon?
The massive explosion that tore through Beirut on August 4th left more than 200 people dead, 6,000 injured, and as many as 300,000 homeless. The explosion was caused by a fire that ignited 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port. When the blast hit, Lebanon was already ... Show More
23m 56s
Aug 2022
Consumer confidence grows in the US
People in the US are spending more than earlier in the year as the country's consumer sentiment survey results rise to a three-month high. We hear from the director of the University of Michigan’s survey Joanne Hsu and restaurant owner Duane Greenleaf. An armed man who held custo ... Show More
27m 59s
Aug 2020
Rebuilding Lebanon’s Fashion Industry
Elie Saab Jr, chief executive of Elie Saab Group, and Lebanese designers Roni Helou and Amine Jreissati speak about the urgent need for global solidarity in the face of crisis. BEIRUT, Lebanon — At around 6pm on August 4, 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored in the Beirut port ... Show More
46m 7s
Oct 2019
Hi.Keefak.Thawra? Episode 1: Feeding the protests
21m 3s