Whether you share our passion for Palestine, or perhaps you are an enthusiast for Fairtrade products, you will find resources on this page that you can use if you are selling our products at stalls, or in a shop. If you’re thinking of hosting a talk about Zaytoun, we’d be happy to help if possible – contact us at contact@zaytoun.org
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT FEB - MARCH 2010
Zaytoun was delighted to announce a partnership with Oxfam to bring four newly Fairtrade-certified Palestinian producers over for Fairtrade Fortnight. Lina Mahmoud from Siir cooperative, Mahmoud al Qadi from East Bani Zeid cooperative, Belal Eid from Joret Amra and Nahed Besharieh from Aboud cooperative were joined by representatives from the Fairtrade Development Centre in Bethlehem and the Oxfam office in Jerusalem, for a packed schedule of trips to schools, shops, local campaign groups, Fairtrade supporters and politicians.
This new partnership greatly supports our ability to work directly with farmer cooperatives on Fairtrade development, and in bringing new Palestinian products to the UK market. We look forward to a close relationship which will benefit farmers in their understanding of the potential of a UK market and also enable us to actively engage British consumers.
In the West Bank farming village of Beni Zeid, Fair Trade is changing livelihoods and inspiring community change. Following years of wasted production and lost revenue due to Israeli policies of closure and restrictions on Palestinian’s movement, many olive producers in the village abandoned their trees.
Thirty-two olive farmers from the village were determined to find an alternative solution, and came together in 2005 to form the Beni Zeid Cooperative. Using a holistic approach to olive farming and harvesting, the Cooperative was certified for organic olive oil production in 2006 and took Fair Trade certification in 2008.
With more than 12,000 olive trees, the Beni Zeid Cooperative has exported close to 70 tons of premium Palestinian olive oil to European markets, giving consumers abroad a true taste of Palestinian culture and heritage. Most of the farmers in the Beni Zeid Cooperative are producing from trees that have been in their family for centuries, and with a focus on sustainable production and with a fair price from their product the next generation can profit too.
“Because of Fairtrade we are thinking collectively in this cooperative. We’re not just developing ourselves, we’re developing a community.” Mahmoud al Qadi, farmer from East Beni Zeid.
This image should be attributed to W. Heske, Oxfam where used. Please email contact@zaytoun.org if you would like to use this image and need a higher resolution file.
Lina Mahmoud, Sir Cooperative (Women’s Agricultural Cooperation Association) “Most of the women in my cooperative are looking to improve the financial level of their households. Many of their husbands used to work in Israel and are now unemployed. Of the 16 women in my cooperative, 10 are the primary breadwinners. The occupation pushes women to look for alternative sources of income. Because of the way the Israeli occupation effects households, Palestinian women have many problems to deal with inside their families. The extra income from olive farming helps the women improve their children’s education and healthcare. In the future, we want to use the extra income we earn from fair trade to expand our communities. We want to put it back into our villages.”
This image should be attributed to W. Heske, Oxfam where used. Please email contact@zaytoun.org if you would like to use this image and need a higher resolution file.
Haitham Hassasneh (Oxfam Jerusalem office, Livelihood Development Officer) is an agronomist with 20 years of experience. The first ten years in agrobusiness in Jordan and the second ten years in Palestine for development of livelihoods. With Oxfam, since two years he has worked as livelihood development officer responsible mainly for the “Promoting Olive Oil Production and Market Access for Small-Scale Olive Farmers” project that aims to increase quantity and quality of olive oil, develop cooperative governance and management and promote access of small scale farmers to the fair-trade international markets.
Jamil Hijazin (Fairtrade Development Centre) started working for the Fair Trade Development centre - Bethlehem University in 2008 as a project assistant and worked with thirty selected olive oil groups. My work is in the field of capacity building, fair trade awareness and fair trade certification. We have managed to certify 7 Palestinian olive oil coops so far with FLO, and we are in the process of certifying five others. I have participated in the organisation and implementation of regional fair trade events in different districts in Palestine, during which we have promoted the Palestinian olive oil and enhanced the public awareness in Fairtrade.
PALESTINE RESOURCES PACK
We were moved to launch Zaytoun in 2004, having spent time with farming communities in Palestine and witnessing the extreme difficulty many such communities had in accessing their olive groves, and in moving themselves and their beautiful produce around due to the conditions imposed by the Israeli occupation. Our mission is not only to sell Palestinian products, but also to highlight the severe economic and social disadvantages faced by Palestinian farmers and their families in exercising their right to a sustainable livelihood. Sadly this remains a priority for us, as conditions have if anything worsened for these farmers. The resources listed below will tell you and your own community more about their story.
FAIRTRADE RESOURCES PACK
From the beginning, Zaytoun has been committed to paying producers a fair and sustainable price for their excellent products. We have worked with Palestinian NGOs and fair-trade organisations to ensure that the price we pay to farmers reflects the skills and the labour involved in tending their crops, and also leaves a margin for development of the farmers’ cooperative bodies as well as their farms. In January 2009 we were delighted to celebrate official FLO certification for Canaan, one of our supply chains, representing hundreds of olive farmers. We are looking forward to further certification, from the 2009 harvest, of other farmers in different supply chains. The resources listed here are focused on the story of the world’s first Fairtrade olives and oil, from Palestine.
ZAYTOUN IMAGES
These images should be attributed to Zaytoun CIC where used. Please email contact@zaytoun.org if you would like to use these images and need a higher resolution file.
