On 27 October it took place the third monitoring committee of the agreement “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” financed by the AECID.
OTC Jerusalem technicians, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, a representative of the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), the CEO of PARC and the team of the FPSC in Jerusalem took part in the committee.
The delegation traveled to the Governorate of Tulkarem, which along with that of Qalquiliah is where the activities of the agreement are carried out. They visited Sofeh where 3, 5 km of irrigation pipes have been installed, 60 dunams have been recovered for agricultural use and 1 km of rural road has been built to facilitate the access of farmers.
Later the monitoring delegation moved to the town of Kufr Labad where 1,5km of irrigations pipes have been installed, 60 dunams have been recovered for agricultural use and 1km of rural road has been opened. Similar activities have been implemented in the border village of Thonabeh.
The visit concluded with a meeting at a women’s cooperative in Tulkarem. The agreement has as one of its priorities the claim of the place that corresponds to these women in the decision-making processes relevant to the family farm or the cooperative of which they are part. One of the objectives is to facilitate the creation and commercialization of the production of small farmers and cooperatives. In this case, the women’s cooperative has been equipped with equipment, and women have been trained in their use. Over the next year, it is planned to increase the number of cooperatives supported by this project.