Business is thriving in a small, chaotic shop in Beirut’s Armenian district. In the space of five minutes, three Syrian refugee families unload armfuls of food onto the counter, sliding the World Food Programme's e-card toward the cashier.
In the wake of the Syrian refugee crisis, shop owner Kervork Kazanjian says his profits are up 40 percent.
This is the frontline in the aid industry’s effort to turn Lebanon’s 1.5 million Syrian refugees into valuable consumers and to encourage their hosts to see them as an economic boost.
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About the author
Morgan Meaker
Morgan Meaker is a London-based freelance journalist. She writes for Reuters, the Guardian and the BBC among others. She covers human rights, development and sustainable business at home and abroad.