vegetable value chain report - ruaf.org chain final 26-04.pdf · page 3 of 16 vegetebles value...

Vegetable Value Chain Report

of 16 VEGETEBLES VALUE CHAIN

Table of Contents

1. Value Chain characteristics ................................................................................................................................................. 3

1.1Production methods, relative contributions and profitability ....................................................................................... 4

1.2 Chain actors and recent interventions ......................................................................................................................... 8

1.3 Challenges and constraints in the vegetable sector ................................................................................................... 11

2. Vision, scenarios and proposed interventions .................................................................................................................. 13

2.1 Vision for the vegetable sector ................................................................................................................................... 13

2.2 Scenarios under which to achieve the above vision ................................................................................................... 14

2.3 Needed systemic change ...................................................................................................................................... 14

2.4 Proposed interventions and approach ....................................................................................................................... 15

2.5 Gender dynamics ........................................................................................................................................................ 16

2.6 Risks ............................................................................................................................................................................ 16


This report provides a description of the actual situation for the vegetable value chain in the

Gaza Strip, a mid-term vision for a more effective and inclusive olive market sector,

constraints and scenarios that have to be taken into account as well as proposed strategies

to enhance systemic changes in the sector necessary to progress towards the mentioned

vision. Specific attention is given to gender dynamics and risk analysis.

1. Value Chain characteristics Many reports have described the vegetable sector in Gaza1 concluding that with respect to

Gaza that land and water scarcity, coupled with low tolerance of arable crops to salty water

are the main constraints for it development.

With regards to land use, the sector has developed in a direction from open cultivation on a

limited area of land to greenhouse cultivation and covered open cultivation. Zucchini, cowpea

and okra are grown mainly as rainfed crops but at times also as irrigated crops. All other

crops appear to be irrigated. The vegetable greenhouse sector has always been export

oriented, but is presently suffering from extremely limited export opportunities due to border

closures.

As for other agricultural sectors, men are dominant in the vegetable chain, although women

(mainly family labour) are involved in harvesting, cleaning, planting seeds and seedlings, and

weeding control.

Table 1 Role of man and women in vegetable farming

Activity Man Women

1. Weeding * **

2. Fertilising *** *

3. Land plowing ***

4. Irrigation net instalment *** *

5. Seedlings planting *** **

6. Seedlings irrigation ***

7. Pest Management ***

8. Trimming plants *** **

9. Harvesting *** **

(*) low participation (**) middle participation (***) High participation

The total area used for vegetables is approximately 62,000 dunums (or 6,200 hectares)

which constitutes slightly more than 30% of the total cultivable land. In 1984 total vegetable

production in the Gaza strip stood at about 100,000 MT, having increased to recent figures of

249,377 MT2. While vegetable production has more than doubled in the past 30 years, the

population in Gaza has tripled from 525,000 in 1987 to 1,700,000 in the same period of time

(PBSC, 2012).

In Gaza, vegetable demand per capita/per year stands at around 110Kg or 30 grams per day

per person in Gaza3(DAI Europe Ltd, 2011). Assuming that the current population is around

1(Roy, S., Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1.(Autumn, 1987), pp. 56-88., DAI (1999), DAI Europe Ltd (2011

2 Ministry of Agriculture, 2012

3This is in stark contrast to the recommended quantity of 400 grams of fruit and vegetables per day in Europe.

(http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/Fruit-vegetable-consumption-Europe/)

http://www.eufic.org/article/en/expid/Fruit-vegetable-consumption-Europe/


1.7 million inhabitants, the present total domestic demand of Gaza (based on current

consumption patterns and purchasing power) can thus be estimated at 176,000 MT which

means a present oversupply of about 73,337 MT of vegetables (equalling about 29% of the

total production of vegetables). With increased households’ incomes and diversifying diets(

through nutritional campaigns) expenditures patterns towards vegetables would likely be

increased. Present yield levels per dunum are good but could be substantially be increased

with improved agronomic practices.

In general, vegetable trading is not specialised, in fact, traders market vegetables in a

manner that is more based on social relations and trust than in a commercial manner. In

addition to this system, women sell small quantities of consumers directly to consumers in

the neighbourhood. Larger-scale farmers producing in green houses, however, would not

object to a change in this system and expressed their dissatisfaction with the present system.

Consumers have reservations with regard to pesticide residues on Gaza products and prefer

imported vegetables above local produce, even if the price of the former is high. In the

season 2011 – 2012, 484,164 kg/litre of pesticides were imported from Israel, and unknown

quantities of pesticides entered from Egypt to the Gaza Strip through tunnels. Around 85% of

the total quantity of pesticides was used for vegetable production, which means vegetables

farmers age generally using large quantity of pesticides. Testing facilities for pesticide

residues are present but have extremely limited capacity. In fact there are only three

laboratories which can test the pesticides residues in vegetables (MoA lab, Al Azhar

university lab and the Islamic university lab).

In the next section we have focussed our analysis on 6 vegetable crops: cucumber, eggplant,

chilly, squash, sweet pepper and lettuce crops (in total covering about 50% of the vegetable

production area). In earlier analysis, we found that tomatoes and potatoes (here not

analysed) are over-produced and require export facilities to be profitable. Open field

production of tomatoes is meant for tomato paste production and constitutes only 1% of total

tomato production. Greenhouse tomatoes are not suitable for paste production.

1.1Production methods, relative contributions and profitability

As already indicated, the studied vegetables are grown in greenhouses, open fields and

under plastic tunnels (below described as open field covered).The table below reflects the

area under cucumber, eggplant, chilly, squash, sweet pepper and lettuce in the 2011-2012

season (MOA, 2012). Analysing the shift in production trends from 2009 till 2011, it can be

concluded that the impact of rehabilitation of greenhouses after the 2008/2009 invasion has

been major. The area under greenhouse cultivation expanded with about 1100 dunum or 110

hectares from the 2009 to 2011 season, a very substantial growth (of about 25%).

Farmers grow a variety of vegetables to counterbalance effects of prices and yield

fluctuations. They also grow vegetables under different production methods, (Source: group

discussions with farmers in Rafah). Only some of the nursery seedling production units are

specialised (though just as nurseries).

In the Table 1 below the areas grown under different production methods and their relative

contribution to the total yield of the crops are tabulated for the 2011-2012 season.

Productivity ranges from high in greenhouses, to average in covered open field cultivation to

low in open cultivation. This is a combined result of yield potential of crops grown in different


systems and the systems themselves. Roughly 75% of the greenhouse area is used for one

crop: cucumber.

In the Gaza Strip, 29 women (0.4% of total number of farmers), are leading and managing

their own vegetable farms, and most of them are heads of families (head of households).

This percentage is very low, mainly because women do not have access to land although

they can inherit property /land under the applicable law. In general, people holding property

in Gaza tend to grant control over their plots to men; sons, brothers or cousins, within their

own families and extended families. Only plots of land with low productivity or close to or

even within the buffer zone are given to women. Although in the cadastral mapping women

are registered as lawful owners, it is men who control and manage farms. Women participate

(as unpaid family member) more in open field works than in greenhouse works because the

majority of open field farmers are small-scale farmers that cannot afford the cost of paid

labour.

Table 2 Different production methods and their relative importance for the season 2011 - 2012

AREA OF SELECTED CROPS DUNAMS NUMBER OF FARMERS

(ESTIMATE)

PERCENTAGE

OF AREA

CONTRIBUTION TO

TOTAL PRODUCTION

Total MEN

WOMAN

GREEN HOUSE 5337 2600 2590 10 26% 48%

OPEN FIELD 10425 3400 3387 13 52% 37%

OPEN FIELD COVERED 4440 1400 1394 6 22% 16%

Table 3 presents the areas grown, total production, proportion and available product for

consumption of the investigated vegetables. It is assumed that all production stated by MoA

is marketable. Clearly the analysed vegetables are produced more than consumed (based

on MoA figures for 2011/2012).

Table 3 Production data for 6 selected vegetable crops

Dunum

under

crop

Percent of

total area

Production in

MT

Percent of

total

product

KG/ person

year

KG

eaten/pe

rson

produced

grams

/person.d

ay

CUCUMBER

6.059 30% 38.366 47% 24 20 66

CHILLIES 3.890 19% 12.460 15% 8 5 21

SWEET PEPPER

230 1% 2.300 3% 1 No data 4

EGG PLANT

4.005 20% 15.286 19% 10 10 26

SQUASH 5.441 27% 12.864 16% 8 No data 22

LETTUCE 577 3% 1.096 1% 1 No data 2

TOTAL 20.202 100% 82.373 100% 51 141


The areas of crops under cultivation fluctuates over the years as can be seen in the graph

below.

From the season 2009 till the season of 2011 a large growth of cucumber cultivation is

registered. This is mainly because the area under greenhouses has been expanded through

a rehabilitation program implemented by FAO in the 2010-2011 season. Chilly growing too

has substantially increased specifically in open cultivation areas. It appears to have reached

its maximum if data on consumption are correct. Eggplant production in open areas is also

on the increase.There is some increase in Sweet Pepper production in greenhouses.

The next figure shows the most important production areas for the vegetables studied.

Clearly, the southern part of Gaza is most important for vegetable production, due to relative

abundance of groundwater in these areas, though water quality is poor (saline and polluted).


Most of vegetables are hardly profitable or -are even loss making propositions- if hired

labour, costs of water, depreciation of assets and maintenance are included in cost

calculations. Especially, it might be expected that in future, farmers will withdraw again from

vegetable cultivation in greenhouses, unless costs of maintenance and seedlings remain

subsidised, as production is not profitable unless of large scale and with guaranteed export.

At the same time, an expansion of the area under plastic tunnels is witnessed, as this seems

to be more profitable. Cultivation of lettuce, sweet pepper and chillies seem to be financially

the best propositions.

The table below summarises the profitability of crops under various assumptions:

high yield-low prices (hy/lp);

low yield-high prices (ly/hp)

Figure Geographical distribution of greenhouses vegetables production (Ministry of Agriculture 2011 – 2012)


Table 1 Profit calculations for various crops under different production systems

The figures above show that farmers do not hire labour (most small scale farmers function as

a family enterprise and use family labour only), do not pay for water and make no

reservations for replacement of their investments. Because they do not do so, calculations

show a profit. If in future at least water and maintenance/replacement costs are included

(steering away from a free distribution and subsidised system and taking into account better

water management in view of water constraints), this will result in losses.

1.2 Chain actors and recent interventions The largest input suppliers in Gaza are Khdeir and Abu Halema: both are corporate

companies that import different types of commodities from different countries like Turkey,

Germany, Holland, Italy, China, etc. They sell goods to retailers/ traders or directly to end-

consumers through their own shops. They supply different types of commodities like:

seedlings, chemical fertilisers, pesticides and irrigation system structure.

Marketing chain: Input suppliers - farmers – traders – wholesalers– retailers – consumers.

(90% of vegetables are sold through this chain).

Except for sweet pepper there is over-supply for all other vegetables as reported by

traders. Storage facilities are extremely limited and very expensive. The introduction of

plastic tunnel production has extended supply periods.

After harvesting, farm gate prices for cucumber are about 800 NIS/MT, while the market

prices are about 1200 NIS/MT. When market prices are about 2200 NIS/MT (December 2013

Production

per Dunum

Price per

tonIncome

Labor

cost

Water

cost

seedling

cost

pest

management cost

Fertilize

r cost

Irrigation

net cost

Nylon

sheet cost

Greenhous

e cost

(depreciati

on) 15

years linear

Maintenanc

e cost

# of

harvestprofit

Greenhouse hy lp 9 800 7200 5000 2250 2000 2500 1500 135 1.833 1000 2 -18.037

Greenhouse ly hp 5 1200 6000 3000 2250 2000 2500 1500 135 1.833 1000 2 -16.437

greenhouse hyhp 9 1200 10800 5000 2250 2000 2500 1500 135 1.833 1000 2 -10.837

Open field hy lp 4 1500 6000 5000 3000 400 3000 2000 135 500 100 1 -8.135

Open field ly hp 2 2000 4000 4000 3000 400 3500 2000 135 500 100 1 -9.635

Open field covered 0 2

Greenhouse hy lp 8 2000 16000 2500 3500 300 1000 1500 135 1.833 1000 2 8.463

Greenhouse ly hp 7 2500 17500 2500 3500 300 1000 1500 135 1.833 1000 2 11.463

Open field ly hp 3 2500 7500 3000 4000 300 1500 1500 135 1 -2.935

Open field hy lp 5 1000 5000 3000 4000 300 1500 1500 135 1 -5.435

Open field hy hp 5 2500 12500 3000 4000 300 1500 1500 135 1 2.065

Open field covered 2000 2 4.000

Greenhouse hy lp 12 2000 24000 2000 3500 3000 2500 2000 135 1.833 1000 1 8.032

Greenhouse ly hp 9 2000 18000 2000 3500 3000 2500 2000 135 1.833 1000 1 2.032

Greenhouse hy hp 12 2500 30000 2000 3500 3000 2500 2000 135 1.833 1000 1 14.032

Open field 3 1200 3600 1000 4000 3000 1000 2000 135 1 -7.535


Greenhouse 9 2000 18000 3000 4000 500 3300 2800 700 1.667 2000 1 33

Open field 3,7 1000 3700 1500 6000 300 1000 1800 350 500 1 -7.750

Open field covered 9 2000 18000 2000 3000 300 1000 1800 350 1200 500 1 7.850

Greenhouse 0 0

Open field 2,5 2000 5000 1500 1000 300 1000 1500 350 500 1 -1.750

Open field covered 3,7 3000 11100 2000 1300 300 1000 1500 350 1200 500 1 2.950

Greenhouse 0 0

Open field 8 10000 80000 300 500 700 300 1200 1200 200 1 75.600


Lettuce

Cucumber

Chilies

Sweet Pepper

Egg plant

Squash


data) farm gate prices for cucumber appear to be about 1500 NIS/MT. Thus between 400

and 700 NIS are appropriated in the post-harvest chain.

Only a limited part of the products go to processing units for production of pickled

vegetables. In Gaza, there are 11 processing units for the production of pickled vegetables

(cucumber, pepper, eggplant and other types of vegetables), all led by men. Five small

processing units were recently established in the Gaza Strip. These units are led by women

and located across the different governorates of the Gaza Strip. Four of these processing

units – Khayrat al-Shamal, Sabaya, Al-Amal and Khayrat Al-Sham - were established under

the DANIDA project funded by Oxfam GB in cooperation with UAWC. The units-officially

registered with governmental ministries- employ in total 16 women. They process pickled

cucumbers and peppers with a capacity of 0.5 TN per year. The units also process a variety

of food items including Maftoul, cakes, biscuits and thyme. The profits generated by the units

are re-distributed among the women who are part of the processing labour-force. These units

still face obstacles mainly relating to marketing, weak technical knowledge, limited access to

finance (due to high loan interests and inability to conduct feasibility studies), weak

bookkeeping capacities, and lack of equipment. Recently, a fifth processing unit was

established by the Palestinian Farmers' Association which employs 20 women with an

annual capacity of one ton. The DANIDA’s funded project started working with those food

processing units two years ago. The project will complete in June 2014 and there will be

minimal follow up during the second phase of the project commencing in July 2014. The

second project will not include any direct intervention to build their capacity.

The total production capacity of all the 16 units is 800 – 900 MT per year (red chilli 50 MT,

green chilli 250 MT, cucumber 250 MT, Olive 100 – 400 MT, eggplant 90 MT). All the 16

units sell their products to big restaurants and supermarkets and in the local market.

However, the quality of product is low and does not meet Palestinian standards due to limited

processing and packaging skills and due to lack of a regulatory body at national level. Thus,

local consumers prefer to buy imported pickles. In particular, there is a high demand for

these products during the Muslim festivity like Ramadan when people in Gaza consume

considerable quantities of pickled vegetables.

In total, the processing units operating in the Gaza Strip employ approximately 200

employees, 15 % of whom are women. The percentage of women's participation in

processing units could be increased by building women' capacities in the area of food

processing, packaging, financial management and marketing and by facilitating women's

access to finance (establishing a revolving fund) to allow them to purchase the equipment

and supplies which they need to improve the quality of their production. Also there is a need

for the promotion of products processed by women and for encouraging local consumers to

purchase such products.

Financing: All financing is informal and based on trust. Producers buy agricultural inputs on

credit and they repay back at the end of each season. The input supplier is often the last

person to be paid.


Recent interventions in the sector include:

Actor Description

UAWC A local NGO specialised in agricultural development in Gaza. It has implemented many projects such as greenhouse rehabilitation, reclamation and replanting of agricultural land destroyed by Israeli forces. These projects provide seedlings, irrigation networks and organic fertiliser to farmers. UAWC has also implemented rain water harvesting projects. UAWC (with PARC and MAAN) was involved in the 2004-2006 Rehabilitation of Destroyed Agricultural Sector in Northern Gaza Strip , UNDP/PAPP financed by GoJapan during which:

40 green houses were reconstructed.

10 Ground Water wells were reconstructed.

A Cold Storage was reconstructed. It was also financed by Arab Group for the Protection of Nature to rehabilitate 38 greenhouses were rehabilitated and plant them with seedlings of tomato, cucumber and green pepper.

PARC A local NGO specialised in agricultural development in Gaza. It has implemented many projects such as greenhouse rehabilitation, reclamation and replantation of agricultural land destroyed by Israeli forces. These projects provide seedlings, irrigation networks and organic fertilisers to farmers. PARC has also implemented organic agriculture projects, rainwater harvesting and cash crops and global GAP projects. The organisation provides inputs and certification to cash crops farmers.

MAAN Center A local NGO specialising in agricultural development in Gaza. It has implemented many projects such as greenhouse rehabilitation, reclamation and replantation of agricultural land destroyed by the Israeli forces. These projects provide seedlings, irrigation networks and organic fertiliser to farmers. MAAN has also implemented organic agriculture projects and rainwater harvesting projects.

The Palestinian Center for Organic Agriculture (PCOA)

A local NGO based in Rafah. The Center has a compost production unit and it distributes the produced compost to farmers. PCOA has implemented many projects to promote the production of safe and organic vegetables.

Oxfam Oxfam has funded a project that encourages safe use of pesticides and improved productivity of olives and other commodities. This project is implemented in partnership with MAAN Center.

ACDI/VOCA USAID ACDI/VOCA USAID has funded a project to improve the capacity building of 4 agricultural cooperatives in the northern Gaza Strip in the field of plant protection and traceability software(Gaza-Agricultural Cooperative Society for Vegetable Production and Marketing, Co-operative Agricultural Association of Beit Hanoun, Gaza Area Strawberries Farmers Union Society-Gaza Strip and the Agricultural Cooperative of Strawberry, Vegetable and Flower Farmers –Beit Lahia). The project has also provided training to farmers in the field of harvesting and post-harvest handling and EurepGap requirements.

CARE CARE has funded projects for rehabilitation of agriculture lands and greenhouses. Such projects have been implemented in partnership with UAWC ,PARC and MA'AN.

ICRC ICRC promotes the use of organic fertiliser and pesticide in vegetable production and has implemented greenhouse rehabilitation projects.

Ministry of Agriculture Provides extension on pest control, plant irrigation and fertilization. The total number of extension officerswhoworkforMoAis32, including three female extensions who do not go to the field.


1.3 Challenges and constraints in the vegetable sector

The figure below presents a problem tree analysis highlighting the key challenges and

constraints encountered in the Gaza Strip vegetable sector, detailing underlying causes and

effects on Palestinian male and female farmers and other actors in the vegetable value

chains. This problem tree was made by the participants to a workshop of the Gaza UPA

Platform held on 20 March 2014 in Gaza City. Participants are representatives of the 30

organizations that are playing a key role in the Urban and Peri-urban Agricultural sector.

Diagram 1-Problem Tree Analysis for the Vegetable Sector in the Gaza Strip


The below section will elaborate further on the constraints and challenges identified in the

diagram above with further inputs from the studies undertaken by the consortium staff in the

Inception Phase.

The main challenges and constraints for the fresh vegetable sector are:

Poor support and protection systems

o Policies and legislation are inadequate to protect farmers against market failures, price

distortions, increasing land prices, etc. Policies for the agricultural sectors are still

mainly based on a vision of a sector that produces for the export market and employing

high-tech (and fuel consuming) production methods

o Production costs do not adequately account for cost of water (see above), labour (in

most cases producers work with unaccounted for family labour) and capital

depreciation (much of capital assets are provided for free by international humanitarian

aid as a response to regular destruction by Israeli military operations or winter storms.

This causes important market distortions if not market failures, even if this can be

justified from a humanitarian point of view.

o Absence of insurance systems against natural and man-made calamities is partly

compensated by international funding for recovery of capital assets. However this

creates new market distortions where investments are not accounted in economic cost

analysis of business undertakings.

Scarcity of water resources and limited access to financing

o Water is too salt and needs to be desalinated to improve production, in the present

scenario where profits are very low, this is impossible unless paid for by the

international community

o There is important over-extraction of scarce groundwater resources that risks to

increase salt water intrusion

o Cost of irrigation water is now free of charge in order to maintain some kind of

profitability. The latter is a major burden for the Gaza society at large in view of other

demands for fresh water, notably drinking water. In short, economic cost of water is

not accounted for.

o Banks do seem reluctant to invest in agricultural value chains (with exception of a few

large input suppliers). Though the system of social financing appears attractive in the

war-like situation in Gaza, actors in the chain mention difficulties and would not be

reluctant to carry through changes in direction of more commercial relationships.

Low competitiveness of local vegetable products

o For the studied crops there is over-production for the internal market, taking into

account that there is very limited access to external markets

o Lack of knowledge and expertise among farmers to propagate environmentally

friendly and low-external and low-cost input practices (replacing for example

chemical fertilisers and pesticides by bio-fertilisers and pesticides)

o Present profit levels are so low that a shake-out in the sector is almost certain in the

not too far future (unless the international community continues to pay for repair and

maintenance of greenhouses as a sort of alternative calamity insurance).

Economically such a shake-out would be beneficial to the sector as it would reduce


supply and hence increase prices and profitability. However this will most probably

happen at the expense of the small scale producers.

o Reducing over-supply by enhancing processing should deal with high competition

with imported pickled and frozen vegetables. Consumers prefer imported pickles

because the pickles produced by processing units are of low quality.

o There is insufficient formal quality control on fresh and processed produce.

Poor agricultural and marketing practices

o Although technically production can be increased, this makes only sense if

purchasing power of domestic market is substantially boosted or if a substantial

increase of access to the export market can be realized (more than 40,000 MT per

year) (as this depends on political will of Israel this does not seem realistic under the

current scenario).

o Temporary dips in supply to the market (December and March) cause substantial

price increases for consumers. In these periods farmers do earn the best, but

probably only a few can manage to produce slightly off-season. The introduction of

plastic tunnel production though has extended supply periods. Staggered planting of

products might be promoted to further spread supply.

o Farmers need more diversification in products and need to move out of tomato and

cucumber production (and probably soon also chilly production). Still absorption by

the market of new products remains questionable due to extreme low purchasing

power of the majority of Gaza’s inhabitants.

o Cold (solar based) storage is limited (unavailable) to support extending marketing

periods.

o Poor quality and quantity of agricultural extension services. There is lack in

agricultural extension provided by MoA to farmers and MoA continues to adopt

traditional extension approach.

o Underdeveloped knowledge and research resources to engage in agricultural

innovative practices and more entrepreneurial farming.

In summary, the main challenges to the Gaza vegetable sector stem from current over-

supply of vegetable crops on the local market, from poor diversification and staggered

production and marketing and from lack of processing (pickled vegetables) and cold storage.

Extension services along the vegetable supply chain need to be properly developed to steer

the sector in a new direction.

2. Vision, scenarios and proposed interventions

2.1 Vision for the vegetable sector The following vision was developed by a large number of local actors actively involved in the

Gaza vegetable sector in a workshop facilitated by the project of the Gaza Platform for Urban

and Peri-urban Agriculture (March 20th, 2014)

“All farmers and processors (men and women) in the Gaza Strip introduce safe, high

quality and price-competitive products and generate higher profits, contributing to the

improvement of the living conditions and ensuring a decent life to their households”.


2.2 Scenarios under which to achieve the above vision

Two possible scenarios, representing the projected political and economic context that could

affect the way the agricultural sector may grow in the future.

First scenario: Political stability. A political stable environment entails the end of the

territorial political fragmentation between Gaza and the West Bank, in addition to the

existence of an internationally recognized representative government in Gaza. A high

priority will be accorded to the development of the agricultural sector. Israeli blockage will

be lifted and just solutions are approved by both Palestinians and Israelis regarding the

issues of water; re-cultivating agricultural land in ARA and freedom of movement and

goods through formal crossings. Donors are committed to provide further support for

developmental interventions in the agricultural and infrastructural sectors. Sustainable

development in the local economy enhances people’s life as well as promotes social

justice.

Second scenario: Political instability: Foreseen political instability entails the

continuation of political fragmentation between Gaza and West Bank, in addition to the

absence of an internationally recognized government in Gaza. Israel continues its

blockade and movement restrictions policies on both people and goods in and out of

Gaza. Donors are committed to provide further support for humanitarian and emergency

interventions with little developmental interventions. This situation will entail a frail local

economy, as well as high unemployment and poverty rates in the Gaza Strip.

In view of the unlikelihood of the first scenario to materialize, strategies and interventions for

the vegetable sector in the Gaza Strip will work under the assumption of the second and

current scenario. Resultant strategies to achieve the vision formulated in section 2.1 will take

into account the immense constraints posed by this scenario and work notably on systemic

changes that encompass the highest independence possible of external inputs and that

enhance capacities of training and extension organisations to promote better processing of

pickled vegetables, as well as agricultural innovation and intensification through farmer-led

knowledge development for high profit and eco-friendly produced vegetables for the local

market. Section 2.6 below will assess the risks that are related to working under this

scenario.

2.3 Needed systemic change

In view of the vision above, the analysis of the current context for the vegetable sector, the

challenges and constraints mentioned in section 1, and the scenario under which

strengthening of the vegetable sector in the Gaza Strip has to be achieved, the project

Consortium recommends that the following systemic changes are facilitated by the

consortium and operated by the local actors involved in the sector.

Where most of the here recommended systemic changes in the vegetable value chain would

be necessary under both scenarios (more and les political stability), they become critical for

the survival of the vegetable sector in the Gaza Strip under the second scenario. For the

vegetable sector the following two systemic changes are essential to pursue:

1. Reduce over-supply of vegetables by diversification of production, introduction of

more staggered production and marketing (cold storage) and increased processing of


vegetables that on the local market compete in price and quality with imported

products.

2. Facilitate increase in knowledge and capacity of vegetable producers and processors

in the above mentioned areas as well as in low external input and sustainable

production practices (use of bio-inputs), through development of more effective

training, extension and support services.

2.4 Proposed interventions and approach The proposed interventions will be carried out under the current scenario, where there is no

political stability and weak economic incomes at the household level. In the not so near

future, the political instability will possibly continue with negative influence on the economic

situation will remain weak. Therefore, under this scenario the poor living conditions of many

of the poorer households in the Gaza Strip risk to remain unchanged in the future. Moreover,

there will be limited external development support, while no important shifts from emergency

to development approach are foreseen in internationally funded projects. Therefore poverty

and unemployment rates risk to increase while private sector investments risk to contract. In

spite of these bleak perspectives there is scope for a better reality even within these hard

economic conditions. As mentioned above important systemic change in a number of

domains is necessary to shift economic dynamics in a more positive sense.

The vision for the vegetable sector is to work on achieving increased income and a good

standard of living for vegetable producers and processors. This can be done through the

improvement of their production quality and processing practices, while substituting

expensive imported inputs by local alternatives. Furthermore, by improving product quality

and applying production quality standards to fresh vegetable and processed products

competitiveness of the Gaza vegetable products with foreign products (mainly from Israel

and Egypt) will be improved. Improved processing and production on their turn may increase

demand for local input supply (bio-fertilizers) and services (cold storage).As a consequence,

it is foreseen that income of small producers (poor families and women) as well as those of

the processing units and other actors involved in the sector will improve and increase.

Pre-recognised systemic changes (section 2.3) will be enhanced by facilitating key actors in

the vegetable value chain to invest and engage in a number of strategies and interventions

suggested by the Gaza UPA Platform (March 20th) and /or the Consortium Project Team.

They are listed below:

o Facilitate the increase in capacity of processing units (specifically targeting those working

with women) in the field of processing pickles (quality improvement, safety control),

marketing (branding and packaging) and financial management.

o Facilitate development and availability of solar based cold storage, processing equipment

and materials

o Facilitate support agricultural research organisations to pursue further economic analysis

for deciding on most profitable vegetable crops in optimal diversified cropping patterns

that have the potential to supply local markets on a long-term sustainable basis. This may


include introduction of staggered planting to spread supply or increasing inter-cropping in

greenhouses with less risky crops (onions).

o Facilitate and support innovation in vegetable production systems through PTD/LEISA

approaches to develop most profitable crops and cropping systems that can be

sustainably managed by small-scale producers taking into account environmental

concerns. This will be done by training extension/training organisations in a LEISA/PTD

approach to innovate vegetable growing practices with the aim to access local markets

with profitable and eco-friendly vegetable (or other more diversified) products. Such

LEISA/PTD approach could focus on one or more of the following:

Encourage reducing the production of open field vegetables by guiding farmers to

plant new varieties of crops (including green fodder -under the assumption that green

fodder is equally profitable as a number of vegetable crops that have low or negative

profitability margins)), which can generate the same or higher profits, through a PTD

approach and a series of field demonstrations with groups of farmers.

Encourage crop diversification inside greenhouses by increasing inter-row spacing

and intercropping with other less risky crops, such as onion, garlic, watermelon and

green beans).

Explore the introduction of staggered planting of products, which spread supply.

Engage vegetable producer groups in reducing production cost through use of bio-

fertiliser and pesticides.

Encourage vegetable producers to invest in rain water harvesting to increase

availability of fresh water and in awareness programs rationalising the consumption of

water used for agricultural purposes.

2.5 Gender dynamics In most cases, women are only involved to a limited extent in the cultivation of vegetables in

open fields and green houses, except for the harvesting time. This is also because of cultural

limitations for women working away from their homes. However, women are more involved

and take responsibility for processing activities, such as pickling and in the selling of produce

nearby the house or in close-by markets. It is especially in this regard that the project

proposes to focus attention for all processing activities to women and in doing so enhance

women’s organisational and technical capacity to produce high-value processed vegetable

products. Such a focus on women economic empowerment should apply to all or most of the

interventions and activities mentioned in section 2.4.

2.6 Risks

1. Israel dumps their vegetable surplus onto Gaza market, further contributing to over-

supply and reducing profitability of the Gaza vegetable sector;

2. International support to maintain greenhouses disappears resulting in rapid collapse

of the greenhouse sector;

3. There is an important risk that farmers will be unwilling to accept a zero distribution

approach as the dairy sector has always received large volumes of free support;

4. Water is becoming too saline to be used for irrigation;

5. Internal strive leads to destruction of assets.

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