Last May 27th, the FPSC visited the Nabi Elias area in the West Bank to check on some of the activities carried out under the Agreement “Improvement of water resources management in the agricultural sector to guarantee food safety in the Palestinian Territories and Jordan”, which finished in December 2014, as well as to check on the ones being carried out under the “Sustainable and equitable rural development in the West Bank including the start and use of responsible management of land and water resources for small and medium farmers” Agreement, both funded by the AECID. Basema Suquir, responsible for the intervention in the name of PARC, a local partner, as well as members of the community and beneficiaries, joined the visit.
It could be seen that the 1000m3 water tank, thanks to an external piping system, successfully provides the surrounding agricultural holdings with water. It was checked as well the activity of the devices that control the liters of water each parcel consumes, which is useful to determine with precision the amount each farmer has to pay for the supply: before, the charge was per hour, regardless of the liters of water consumed.
All these measures have resulted in a decrease of water costs for small farmers, a decrease that has a positive impact in the productivity of their holdings.
Regarding the recovery of the land contemplated in the new Agreement, it could be seen that both the location of the dividing wall in the city and the parcels have been recovered with citrus fruits, avocado and olive trees that have been barbed-wire fenced.
In order to take advantage of the land, between the trees different vegetables are being planted, vegetables that serve to guarantee food safety for the families and, at the same time, serve for trade in case of surplus. Farmers revealed the problems they were finding to recover the land, such as the need to demine the area.
The visit finished with a Palestinian lunch, in which several local products could be tasted.