Six Decades of Rural Landscape Transformation in Five Lebanese Villages

Abed Al Kareem Yehya, Thanh Thi Nguyen, Martin Wiehle, Rami Zurayk and Andreas Buerkert ()
Additional contact information
Abed Al Kareem Yehya: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
Thanh Thi Nguyen: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
Martin Wiehle: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
Rami Zurayk: Landscape Design and Ecosystem Management, Maroon Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Bliss St., Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
Andreas Buerkert: Organic Plant Production and Agroecosystems Research in the Tropics and Subtropics (OPATS), Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, Steinstr. 19, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 2, 1-26

Abstract: During the last six decades, Lebanon’s landscapes have undergone significant regime shifts whose causes are under-investigated. Using land cover maps from 1962 and satellite imagery from 2014 and 2023 in five randomly selected villages across Lebanon’s major agroecological zones (AEZs), we identified salient trends in the urbanization-driven transformation of land use and land cover (LULC). Household socio-economic characteristics and environmental pressures were analyzed as independent variables influencing land use decisions. Logistic regression (LR) was employed to assess the significance of these variables in shaping farmers’ choices to transition toward “perennialization”—namely fruit tree monocropping or protected agriculture. The LR results indicate that education reduced the likelihood of “perennialization” by 45% ( p < 0.001). Farm size positively influenced “perennialization” ( p < 0.01), suggesting that land availability encourages this agricultural practice. In contrast, water availability negatively affects “perennialization” ( p < 0.01), though farmers may still opt to irrigate by purchasing water during shortages. Our findings underline the complex interplay of socio-economic and environmental dynamics and historical events in shaping Lebanon’s rural landscapes and they offer insights into similar transformations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Keywords: agricultural systems; environmental pressures; landscape change; socio-economic characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/262/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/14/2/262/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:14:y:2025:i:2:p:262-:d:1577759

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().