B:17.4”
T:17.4”
21
The Manitoba Co-operator | September 20, 2012
Palestinian farms wither in tough climate Starved for water and resources, farmers in occupied territory look with a mix of anger and envy from their dusty orchard at the lush green rows of fruit trees in Israeli territory. By Jihan Abdalla BEIT UMMAR, WEST BANK / REUTERS
O
nce a mainstay of the local economy, Palestinian agriculture in the rocky West Bank is in decline as farmers struggle to protect their livelihoods and their lands. Deprived of water and cut off from key markets, farmers across the occupied territory can only look on with a mix of anger and envy as Israeli settlers copiously irrigate their own plantations and export at will. The pressure to keep farming is strong, not least because Palestinian farmers believe that Israel and Jewish settlers will expropriate their farmland if they leave it uncultivated. But with restrictions on water use and land, what farmers produce often fails to match the lower cost or higher quality of
A Palestinian farmer harvests grapes in a vineyard in the West Bank village of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron. Once the mainstay of the local economy, Palestinian agriculture in the rocky West Bank is in decline, with farmers struggling to protect both their livelihoods and their lands. REUTERS/DARREN WHITESIDE
what Israel supplies to Palestinian stores. “Palestinian far mers are fighting a daily, losing battle
against Israeli restrictions on land and water,” said Palestinian Minister of Agriculture Walid Assaf.
A recent UN report calls the Israeli occupation on the productive base of the Palestinian economy, and especially its once-flourishing agriculture, “devastating.” “The economy has lost access to 40 per cent of West Bank land, 82 per cent of its groundwater, and more than two-thirds of its grazing land,” the report said. While fruit orchards in the farming town of Beit Ummar, north of the city of Hebron, are parched as they rely only on scarce rainfall, a settler farm across the way is lined with black pipes for regular hosing, allowing for faster growth. Lush green, the rows of fruit trees were all picked months ago. “These plums will sell for one shekel (25 cents) a kilo, almost for free! The Israeli plums have already been on the market for one month,”
said Um Hussein, a 75-yearold woman picking dusty fruit off her tree in an orchard adjacent to a Jewish settlement. “We can barely afford drinking water, let alone water the trees,” says farmer Nafez Khalaylah. However, Israel says it is already giving Palestinians more water than was agreed in the 1994 interim Oslo peace accords. Israeli agriculture experts s a y Pa l e s t i n i a n s c o u l d d o much more with their land if they adopted modern farming methods such as drip technology. The locals certainly receive little help or encouragement from the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Ba n k . It a l l o c a t e s a m e re one per cent of its budget to farming, despite the sector’s importance.
S:17.4”
Ivory Coast to invest $4 billion in farm sector Projects aim to boost yield and quality
InVigor® needs Liberty® the same way. Liberty herbicide is the backbone of the LibertyLink® system and together they’re powerful partners.
O-67-09/12-BCS12261-E
T:10”
She is a wife, mother, business partner, advisor and confidant. She wears all these hats and more, ensuring everyone is taken care of and that the business runs smoothly.
B:10”
S:10”
Unsung hero.
ABIDJAN / REUTERS Ivory Coast plans to invest nearly $4 billion to improve crop yields for its worldleading cocoa sector and become a rice exporter within four years. Once the motor for economic growth in West Africa, Ivory Coast has seen a decade of stagnation as a political crisis split the country between northern rebels and government loyalists in the south. But after last year’s brief civil war, the country is now in the midst of an economic turnaround under new President Alassane Ouattara, a former International Monetary Fund official. Planned projects aim to boost yields and quality for all farm products through distribution of improved seed strains, better storage conditions, and the rehabilitation of roads and irrigation infrastructure. Ivory Coast’s economy has long relied on agricultural exports for the vast majority of government revenues. The country is a major exporter of palm oil products, Africa’s leading producer of natural rubber, and grew a record 1.5 million tonnes of cocoa during the 201011 season. However, analysts predict a longterm decline if nothing is done to counteract the effects on production of aging trees.