Lebanon’s rural areas are resource-rich but to keep citizens there the government must provide them with more economic incentives to stay, experts told The Daily Star Friday. “Social protection is critical to fight poverty in rural areas,” Maurice Saade, the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization representative in Lebanon, told The Daily Star. “Providing people with minimum social protection – such as education support, health and maybe some financial support to be able to grow – helps them stay in the rural areas and invest more in agriculture.”