Situated between Mount Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon Mountains, the Beqaa Valley was known as the "breadbasket" of the country in the past. Today, mainly fruits and vegetables are produced in this region that makes up 40% of Lebanon's arable land. Thegovernment has supported large-scale vegetable production with intensive farming methods which leave the changing of the seasons unconsidered - tomatoes can be grown in greenhouses 12 months a year. While Syrian farmers used to come to the Valley to tendtheir flocks, today they are immigrant workers who cross the Anti-Lebanon Mountains to work in plantations and live in camps. Cross-national trade is functioning well between Syria and Lebanon: the proximity and unusual porousness of the common border facilitates the crossover of labourers.
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