AUB AREC Advancing Research Enabling Communities Center

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AUB AREC is a multi-functional and inter-disciplinary center devoted to teaching, research, training and outreach activities.

Established in 1953 as an extension of the AUB campus, AREC serves FAFS faculty members, students, and other AUB faculties interested in agriculture, health, environment and sustainable rural livelihoods. The location of AREC in the heart of the Beqaa valley which hosts the most significant agricultural activity in the country offers a unique real-life model for disseminating knowledge and innovation and for experimenting and applying agricultural research at a real-scale model. Moreover, the close knitted ties of participation and trust that FAFS developed over the past 66 years with the neighboring Beqaa communities offer a tangible and working model for the “Good Neighborhood Policy” of AUB. The center remains one of the region’s leading academic centers in the region catering to the needs of students, faculty, researchers and communities.

The Advancing Research Enabling Communities Center (AREC) is located at Haush-Sneid in the Beqa’a Valley, 80 kilometers from Beirut, 25 kilometers northeast of Zahle and 14 kilometers southwest of Baalbeck. It includes a research farm, an agricultural library, a clinic, several staff resident houses, a student cafeteria and dormitories, classrooms, laboratories, a weather station, a seed bank, cold storages, workshop, and recreation and sport facilities, all run by a body of qualified personnel (see accompanying chart). Cattle, sheep, goat and poultry, are maintained with modern equipment and housing facilities. A good portion of the land is devoted to teaching, research, and demonstration in the production of fruits, vegetables, cereals, forage and various other field crops, while the rest of the farm is used to produce locally adapted crops. The 100-hectare farm provides excellent opportunities for students to obtain practical experience in various sectors of agriculture.