UMW Mission June 2015 Palestine: Grassroots International Urban Projects augmenting food production and income in times of siege.

UMW MissionJune 2015

Palestine: Grassroots International

Urban Projectsaugmenting food production and

income in times of siege

Building Women's Leadership in Palestine

Gaining independence and strength through food sovereignty

By Jonathan Leaning May 20th, 2014

A version of this piece originally appeared in Response: The magazine of women in

mission.

The Women’s Empowerment and Food Sovereignty Project in Palestine, sponsored by

Grassroots International and implemented with our Palestinian partner the Union of Agricultural

Work Committees, works to bring practical, locally controlled food projects to various

communities in the West Bank.

The project aims to increase women’s leadership in their communities while

improving the standard of living for women farmers and strengthening their rights to land, water and food. It plans to continue building vibrant models of food sovereignty through

the project’s successful women’s agricultural development enterprises, such as olive

production, bee-keeping, poultry-raising and vegetable gardens.

The project offers hands-on activities

that promote women’s engagement

in leadership development, local agriculture and

food sovereignty, including distributing 1,700 olive seedlings

to 29 women’s cooperatives

in 2013.

Confiscation of Palestinian farmland and barriers to farmland access create tremendous hardship for farmers.

Food Sovereignty, on the other hand,

offers a different path. By promoting

and building a thriving, locally controlled,

family-based Palestinian farming

sector, Food Sovereignty

offers a path toward Palestinian

self-determination and control over their own land and resources.

The project also offers assistance and training to women’s

agricultural development

enterprises, providing leadership and

vocational skills, project management,

marketing and establishing a

cooperative model.

Being a member of this women’s cooperative is so much more than learning technical skills, which we do,” said

Zeinab Mo’han, member of Beitin Women’s Cooperative in Palestine. “But we also learn about how to engage in

discourse, how to negotiate, effective communication skills and, just as importantly, the role of the rights to land, food

and water in our national struggle.”

In addition to the economic and cultural barriers faced by women in the region, residents of the West Bank face

enormous challenges imposed by military law.

“Early last year, the occupation authorities demolished five sheep hangars, confiscated

tractors and agricultural water tanks

and left notices for house demolitions,”

“[They are] preventing farmers from having access to their agricultural land after sunset. In addition to that, Palestinian farmers are under continuous harassment

from the Israeli military occupation forces at the military checkpoints during their transport of agricultural

products.”

Palestinians live under layers of laws that affect where they can live, how much

water they can use and which roads they can access,

among other things. Despite

these obstacles, Palestinian farmers remain steadfast in their commitment

to the land.

Technical assistance will continue to be provided, training and education on

gender issues and leadership, along with

spreading the practice of food sovereignty by

amplifying the voices of rural women and farmers as

they advocate for better agriculture and food production policies in

Palestine.