To mark Fairtrade Fortnight, Willow Heske reports on the big difference Fairtrade certification is making to the business prospects of Palestinian farmers in the West Bank – and the hope it has given to one farmer determined to succeed against the odds.
Nahed Sharia’s farm is nestled just off the main road in the West Bank village of Aboud. Only a 20–minute ride from Ramallah, his farm is, in theory, in a great location – the paved highway should give him easy access to the local markets. However, in 2001, an off-duty Israeli soldier who lived nearby was shot and killed as he drove home along this very road. Since then, the farmer has only been able to harvest his land twice.
For two years after the shooting, Israel officially closed the road and cordoned off the surrounding area for security purposes, leaving Nahed stranded and unable to reach his land. In 2003, the road was re-opened and Nahed was given permission by the Israeli authorities to return but found he was still unable to farm. Although he had nothing to do with the death of the soldier, residents of the settlement wanted to take his land from him in order to build a park and monument dedicated to the soldier’s memory. Nahed volunteered to give the settlers a portion of his land to build their monument on but was not prepared to surrender everything. These fields have been in his family for generations, serving as their primary source of income and are currently planted with over 500 olive trees.
Ongoing harassment
Despite Nahed’s offer, the settlers remained adamant that he should not be allowed to continue there. From then on, according to Nahed, the farm became a focal point for the settlers’ frustration. Over a series of attacks between 2003 and 2007, the settlers destroyed half of his olive trees and uprooted his grape vines, as well as destroying a retaining wall and his water irrigation network. Nahed appealed to the Israeli authorities for protection. They came out to investigate and documented the damage but still the vandalism kept occurring.
In 2007, Nahed, who was suffering financially from this ongoing harassment, began filing the paperwork to start legal proceedings against the perpetrators. Both sides entered arbitration, where the settlers eventually agreed to leave Nahed’s farm alone in exchange for a piece of his land on which they could build the soldier’s monument and visit at any time.
Getting back to turning a profit
Now Nahed says he is relieved because things on the farm are quiet and he can finally focus on production and getting back to turning a profit. In 2008 he joined the Aboud Agricultural Co-operative, which has just gained organic and Fairtrade certification for olive oil production through an Oxfam GB project, “Support to small and medium scale olive producers.” With funding from the European Commission, the Oxfam project aims to certify 30 Palestinian olive farming collectives as organic and Fairtrade. Through local partners, the Palestinian Farmers Union and Bethlehem University’s Fairtrade Development Centre, the farmers receive training on producing a quality product that can improve their livelihoods through the guarantee of a fair price. The project is also working with Zaytoun, an ethical trading company in the UK, to make sure the farmers’ products reach Fairtrade consumers abroad.
Nahed says he is really excited about the Fairtrade certification. After years of lost income, he can now harvest his olives and produce his oil knowing that he will recover the costs and receive a fair market price.
In addition to the income he will earn from Fairtrade, Nahed says that he is grateful for the opportunity to have his product sold in European markets because he thinks it’s a way for Palestinians to be seen in a different light.
A sign of hope
Standing besides the stone monument the settlers erected on his land, Nahed says consumers should see his success as a sign of hope in a land where there is too much emphasis on the negative.
“In my case, we found a solution that everyone could live with. We should always look for these solutions,” he says.
In pictures: Fairtrade olive farming in the West Bank
Oxfam and Fairtrade Fortnight 2010
Where we work: occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.