Support for agriculture 2013
Support for agriculture 2013
The actions of the project stimulate the economy at the local community level, as well as at the national level. Additionally, farms under the project become significantly independent of adverse environmental conditions such as restricted access to water or low-quality soil and of political restrictions.
Development of agricultural enterprises in the districts of Hebron and Bethlehem on the West Bank of Jordan
Objectives
Increasing the potential and efficiency of the local food production by small Palestinian farmers struggling under the Israeli occupation on the West Bank of Jordan. In particular,
- Establishing and development of innovative agricultural systems (hydroponics, aquaponics, self-watering systems),
- Improving resilience of small agricultural entrepreneurs in reacting to recurring political and economic impediments,
- Agriculture and agribusiness education.
Background and description of needs
The project is an intervention promoting enterprise development focused on economic development through creating new sources of income for the chosen group of beneficiaries – small farmers of the Hebron and Bethlehem districts. The project focuses on occupational development in the field of agriculture.
Within the framework of this project we provide help to 70 small farms in establishing modern and innovative system of agricultural production – hydroponic cultivation and self-watering systems, as well as in development of aquaponic systems. Those systems provide diversification of agricultural production and support farmers in setting up small agribusiness enterprises.
The actions of the project stimulate the economy at the local community level, as well as at the national level. Additionally, farms under the project become significantly independent of adverse environmental conditions such as restricted access to water or low-quality soil and of political restrictions.
Within the framework of the project, 70 poor farms in the Hebron and Bethlehem districts will receive equipment and technical support to establish innovative hydroponic, aquaponic systems of cultivation and self-watering systems together with all necessary materials to set up agricultural production (seedlings, seeds, fry, fodder, etc.).
Beneficiaries will also receive agribusiness and technical trainings, practical workshops, and a number of individual field visits from agricultural and aquaponic cultivation experts. Using new methods will enable beneficiaries to improve the efficiency of the current agricultural production and provide additional source of income. It will improve their material status, food security, and economic development of the local community.
Beneficiaries
Members of 70 poor farms (around 455 persons) – farms in a difficult material situation running ineffective agricultural production and perceiving agricultural production as a means of acquiring food and a source of income. Ten of those farms were covered by the Polish Aid project of establishing aquaponic systems in 2012. As a continuation of that project, those systems will be expanded.
Project location
Palestinian Autonomy, West Bank of Jordan
The project covers rural areas under Israeli administration, partially or completely isolated from the territory of Palestinian Autonomy and surrounded by the so-called Safety Wall.
Bethlehem district: Dar Salah, Al Khadir, Al Walaja, Husan, Nahalin, Al Jaba’a, Beit Fajjar,
Hebron district: Surif, Beit Ula, Beit Ummar.
The grant, amounting to PLN 472,464, received under the Polish Aid program of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2013