Supporting Economic Growth through Value Chain Development in the West Bank

The project aims to confront constraints faced in the agricultural community by providing smallholder producers of fruit and vegetables and livestock herders with the technical assistance required to lift them from subsistence operations that yield little or no profit into sustainable semi-commercial enterprises. This technical assistance seeks to improve access to land and water introduce proven production technology and build post-harvest handling processing and marketing capacities. The project expects sales of value-added produce won't depend entirely on the export market but seek expanded access to the domestic market for locally produced goods. Project activities include: (1) contributing to the growth of the Palestinian economy; (2) reducing its dependence on external assistance; (3) reducing poverty levels; and (4) reducing food insecurity by providing domestic markets with affordable local produce.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to quality land and water resources; (2) enhanced capacity of farmers to apply cost-effective market-oriented and quality-based production practices; (3) improved access to and use of environmentally sound post-harvest infrastructure; (4) strengthened capacity of cooperatives and women’s associations to manage and administer a modern cooperative in an effective and gender-equitable manner; (5) strengthened the capacity of cooperatives and women’s associations to provide marketing services to their members; and (6) strengthened the capacity of a cooperative umbrella organization to provide cooperatives and women’s associations with access to support services.