Occupied Palestinian Territories: Rural Livelihoods & Food Security 2009-2014

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has recently been granted A$6 million in funding from the Australian Government (AusAID) to implement a five-year food security and capacity building project in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Majeda proudly shows the rabbits she’s received (Khuza'a, Gaza)

Working with our local Palestinian partner agency, MA'AN Development Centre, the project seeks to mitigate the high levels of poverty, vulnerability and food insecurity in two rural areas in the OPT - the Tulkarem area in the northern West Bank, and the Khan Younis area in the southern Gaza Strip. The project will work in 7 villages around Tulkarem - Kufr Jammal, Kufr Zibad, Kufr Abboush, Kur, Kufr Sur, Ar-Ras, Shufa; and 3 villages outside Khan Younis - Abasan al-Kabira, Khuza'a, Al-Fukhari. These villages have been identified as areas of extreme poverty and food insecurity, and have suffered from conflict-related damage to infrastructure and associated social impacts, and loss of land and livelihoods due to the actions and policies of the Israeli occupation.

Project summary - "Rural Livelihoods and Food Security through Capacity Development"

Levels of poverty and vulnerability for Palestinians across the OPT are increasing. This new project is an attempt to reduce the level of vulnerability through enhancing local food security and building local capacities, particularly for women. This project is set in the context of the ongoing Israeli/Palestinian conflict and is considered a realistic program of interventions that build on the existing strengths in the Palestinian communities with activities that can have discernible and tangible impacts.

The project aims to build on existing strengths, available resources and opportunities to deliver sustainable improvement to local food security, as well as to build community resilience and reduce vulnerability. However, the project must work within the constraints imposed by the wider conflict. The local communities have experienced extreme conditions in a volatile environment with limited capacities to influence or control major events that impact upon their lives; these events include the confiscation of Palestinian land and property for the building of the Separation Wall, the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip. The communities demonstrate an outstanding level of resilience and have developed extensive coping mechanisms.

The implementing partners are Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA (APHEDA) and MA'AN Development Centre (MA'AN). The two organisations share a working partnership of 20 years. MA'AN was, in fact, established in 1989 as a small Palestinian NGO through a small initial grant from APHEDA. The two organisations have since worked on numerous projects revolving largely around capacity building of Palestinian non-government organisations (NGOs) and community-based organisations (CBOs), agricultural production and permaculture, income generation, health, gender rights, and adult skills training for employment. This programming has focused on both rural and urban livelihoods. This current project utilises MA'AN's and APHEDA's experience and knowledge gained from previous projects, and takes advantage of complementarities possible through MA'AN's ongoing work and partnerships with other organisations. The partnership will work toward the achievement of shared objectives, building upon and utilising local knowledge and experience.

The project is proposed to last five years, April 2009-March 2014, with a total budget over this timeframe of approximately AUD$6 million.

Project goal and objectives

Project activities

By focusing on practical agricultural improvements for household and community consumption, the project will help to address these challenges. The project's first objective to address local food security and livelihood needs will focus on integrated steps to increase food production, skills and knowledge at the household level. Project activities will include sustainable home gardens, small animal husbandry, enhanced agricultural production and processing techniques, improved water conservation, rehabilitation of agricultural land and roads, and supporting the establishment of consumer cooperatives and small income-generating businesses for women.

The project's second objective will seek to enhance the capacity of local communities to define their own development needs, as well as to design and implement solutions to address those needs. The project will work with local community-based organisations, women's and farmers' associations, to support their responsible management and accountability to their communities. Training will be provided in management, leadership, governance and financial skills for these organisations. A particular focus will be to support and encourage the active participation of women and youth in these community organisations.

Ceremonies were held in both Tulkarem and Khan Younis to launch the project in July 2009. The launch involved representatives from the project's participating communities, MA'AN project staff, APHEDA staff presenting a message from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and APHEDA, the Australian Representative Office to the OPT, AusAID and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture.

Project update, April 2010

Key results in food security activities have been an active program of land rehabilitation for farmers, the start of greenhouse maintenance activities, rabbit distribution to vulnerable families, and the launching of the "Olive Campaign". Land rehabilitation activities reached a total of 81 farmers and 241 dunums of land (1 dunum = 1000m2 = one quarter acre); 7 workshops on care and cultivation of olive trees reached 350 farmers; 100 rabbit units were distributed; 70 farmers selected for greenhouse maintenance.

The project's capacity building activities focussed on skills training courses for community-based organisations (CBOs): 7 capacity building courses provided 120 hours of training for 11 CBOs; participation rates were 54% women and 46% men.

The Tubeh Family, Kufr Jammal village, West Bank
Mr Rasheed Tubeh's family consists of five members: he, his wife and three daughters. Mr Tubeh was a teacher in Kuwait; however, after the 1990 Gulf War, he and his family were deported, as was the case with many Palestinian families in Kuwait at the time. When he returned to Palestine, his only son was diagnosed with cancer. All the family's savings went on his son's medical treatment; nonetheless, the young man passed away. Furthermore, one of Mr Tubeh's daughters has since been diagnosed with thalassaemia (a genetic blood disorder).

The family owns three dunums of land, however only one dunum is fit for agriculture, and he plants it with za'atar (thyme). The project selection committee was keen on including the Tubeh family in the project's land rehabilitation activities. The project is now supporting Mr Tubeh to rehabilitate the other two dunums of his land. As a result, the Tubeh family will have the potential to increase their annual income from za'atar harvesting from NIS6,000/year to NIS18,000/year (AUD1,800/year to AUD5,000/year).

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© Union Aid Abroad - APHEDA 2003.

Last Modified: Saturday, 08-May-2010 15:40:19 EST
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