As host to the largest number of refugees per capita in the world, including an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Syrians in 2017, Lebanon is in need of economic development initiatives that enable the poorest households to become self-reliant and contribute to local economies. Since 2012, the World Bank estimates that Lebanon has incurred losses of US$13.1 billion and poverty rates have risen by six percent. The most recent figures estimate that more than 1 million Lebanese, or approximately 25 percent of Lebanese nationals, live below Lebanon’s national poverty line, with 10 percent living in extreme poverty. Similarly, 76 percent of Syrian refugee households live below Lebanon’s national poverty line and 58 percent are severely socio-economically vulnerable, living below the survival minimum expenditure basket. Now in its seventh year, the Syrian crisis continues to strain Lebanon’s resources and public services, and the ongoing influx of refugees threatens to push more Lebanese into poverty.