Program Definition:
This program consists of a combination of inputs concerned with developing a leading role for farmers’ associations, enabling them to play a bigger role in developing sustainable techniques for agricultural work, and from there, developing a collective solution to their problems.
Program Justification:
Considering the nature of the agricultural lands and the structure of Palestinian agricultural economies, the shrinking size of market areas, and the low level of technology utilization, it has because more and more difficult for farmers to individually realize accomplishments that can contribute to the development of their economic and social situation. Therefore, this program strives to improve opportunities for workers in the agricultural sector and allow them to play a bigger role in their societies, as these farmers have yet to successfully transition to agriculture practices for the purpose of trade.
Program Objectives:
1. To encourage the farmers in their involvement in associations, non-profit agricultural organizations, or specialized, multi-purpose cooperatives.
2. To build models for sustainable interventions in the area of improving economic returns from farming, through controlling costs or improving returns from the marketing process.
3. To build the capacity of the organizations and improve their public presence.
4. To improve the financial, administrative, and organizational performance of these organizations as grassroots institutions.
5. To improve farmers' ability to form advocacy groups in order to protect sector interests in various areas.
Target Group:
Groups of cooperative or non-profit farmers in rural regions, both officially registered and unofficially.
Program Philosophy:
Farming is economically arduous work, thus it is advantageous to organize efforts related to it.
The Program’s Principal Interventions:
• Consulting and assessing organizational and administrative needs.
• Providing training and instruction.
• Facilitating institutional development.
• Transferring knowledge and building models.
• Supporting organizational, administrative, and financial capacities.
• Standardizing institutional control systems across different fields.
Noteworthy Accomplishments:
1. Enabling farmers in collectives to achieve their first gains from retrieving taxes imposed on production inputs, which can be estimated annually at around 40 million dollars.
2. Enabling farmers to save 10% on market prices as a result of adopting the existing policy on collective procurement.
3. Improving cooperative farmers’ capacities in the field of marketing their products in a way allowing them to achieve 15 to 20 percent better prices than the market price for individual farms.
4. Implementing health insurance as a top priority in realizing farmers' rights.
5. Building savings portfolios in collectives that contributed to stronger results of the collective purchasing program for these associations.
