29 March 2022 - With the days becoming gradually longer and warmer all across the West Bank, there are plenty of new reasons to get outside and enjoy the more favourable weather conditions.

To celebrate the turn of the season, and just in time for Ramadan, the Palestinian Agricultural Cooperatives Union (PACU) on 29 March inaugurated their very first farmers market for the benefit of its member cooperatives, featuring its own line of products called MAWARES, in Al-Bireh city, West Bank.

The market, part of a larger intervention funded by the Government of Canada to optimize agricultural value chains in the West Bank being implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, represents a ground-breaking achievement for agricultural workers in the community because it provides them a sustainable and affordable channel to market their goods.

“It gives me great pleasure to see that consumers now have the opportunity to enjoy local products coming directly from local producers in a convenient-to-reach permanent facility equipped with all that is needed for modern and safe food marketing,” said Dr Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s Coordination Office for the West Bank and Gaza Strip Programme (FAO WBGS). 

Seven days a week, consumers will be able to access at least 300 various high-quality, healthy agri-food commodities, including fresh fruits and vegetables, handicrafts, spices, and more. All products are produced by PACU’s 120 member cooperatives with a total 14 000 farmers, 2 000 of which are women.

 “Everything will be sold at fair prices to guarantee the best value for both producers and consumers,” added Dr. Azzam Ayasa, head of programme at FAO WBGS.

The market paves the way for setting up a model of a socially and economically fair, viable and scalable marketing system, and will contribute to empowering and building up the capacities of PACU, especially those member cooperatives run by women and youth.

Representative of Canada Ms Robin Wettlaufer said, “Agriculture is such an important pillar of the Palestinian economy and is key for sustainable economic growth. Canada is proud to support Palestinian farmers and women-led cooperatives in improving their productivity and efficiency across the agribusiness value chain and in delivering high-quality agricultural products here at this market.”  

Since 2016, FAO through the Canada-backed intervention has been working to improve sustainable income and labour productivity in agribusiness value chains in the West Bank, in particular through promoting access to sustainable land and water resources through rehabilitation of roads, wells, and other agricultural infrastructure; introducing innovative and climate-smart practices to small-scale farmers; establishing new as well as upgrading existing post-harvesting facilities; and strengthening managerial and marketing capacities of farmers' and women's cooperatives.