Canaan Fair Trade and The Palestinian Fair Trade Association
In 2003, after years of living abroad in the U.S., Dr. Nasser Abufarha returned to his native land of Palestine for research related to his PhD dissertation on anthropology. What at first began as a standard academic visit eventually proved more extraordinary than he initially imagined, and now a region marked by political conflict and occupation has a new destiny due to his visionary work.
After witnessing the isolated conditions Palestinian oil farmers were working in during his return, Dr. Abufarha envisioned an idea to help farmers overcome the broad challenges they faced.
“From what I knew of Palestine, and the main challenge of being under Israeli occupation, it essentially was an issue of market access. I learned a lot from the US especially learning how modern economy works. However, I naturally have always had a deep connection with Palestinian people given it is where I grew up so I always tried to think of ways as to how I can employ this knowledge to help people who are locked hostage in this conflict. Farms in Palestine are primarily owned by local families; this has been their means of survival throughout many centuries. I realized the concept of fair trade development could be a vehicle for which to overcome the difficult trading conditions of Palestinian farmers.”
During his first year of research in his home city of Jenin on the West Bank, he began talking to farmers and olive oil producers about their experiences and gained insight into what development needs were most critical to the region. He held workshops about how fair trade works, the sustainability/organic farming movement and how to organize into cooperatives.
“Throughout that year, I began to learn why Palestinian farmers were struggling given the vast pressures they face”, he explained. “Until 2005, the bulk of oil produced in Palestine was collected by Israeli companies and exported as Israeli products to Europe. Yet, farmers were being ‘squeezed’ given oil harvesting is completed in November, and often times Israeli buyers would wait until February when the market was saturated and the farmers were then forced to sell at a lower price below cost. For a small Palestinian farmer, every crop finances the next crop; they could not sustain themselves under these price conditions.”
By 2004, Dr. Abufarha established the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA) which began as a network of 13 cooperatives. In the same year, he established Canaan Fair Trade to ensure fair markets and trading terms for their products. PTFA has helped organize small Palestinian farmers to ensure fair trade production through cooperative building and to certify products organically. Unlike Israeli companies who waited for a surplus in the market to ensure lower prices, Canaan buys crops during harvest season at a set price in sizeable quantities to impact the entire market. Since, the price for oil has increased from 2 US dollars to 5.50 US dollars per kilo at a set price for the past five years due to Canaan’s efforts.
“Small producers can not guarantee such terms without being unified into a network of cooperatives or normally do not have the access such market”, explained Dr. Abufarha. “So, we consolidated their product, we helped them in fair trade certification and organic certification which increased the value of their product by added environmental and social values.”
Through Canaan, Dr. Abuharha developed markets in Europe and North America, and by 2008, sales of olive oil to the United States and Europe were close to 4 million. Canaan Fair Trade now has partnerships with Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap company, as well as U.S. based Whole Foods, UK’s Sainsbury’s, and gourmet food shops across Europe. All products, which include olive oil, sundried tomatoes, and maftoul, Palestinian-style couscous, are organically certified. Canaan has done extensive research of organic farming methods around the world to employ this knowledge to farmers for a better yield of their crop.
Yet, challenges are still present due to the Mideast conflict, which, Dr. Abufarha notes, is reflected in the price Canaan has to charge due to alternative shipping routes and procedures to accommodate occupation control points. For farmers, many are losing land or have limited access to their farms and water due to the occupation. “There is almost total denial of irrigation water”, Dr Abfarha said, which has led to a number of confrontations between Palestinian farmers and Israeli police given farmers are forced to dig for underground water to irrigate land because the wells are blocked. And when Israeli police catch a farmer digging a well, they are reprimanded for not having a permit for a new well, yet they are not allowed to apply for one. “Water is a basic element for any farmer”, he continued, and this issue has led to variation in the crops. Political dynamics coupled with droughts in the past year, crop production was only at 20% of a normal harvest which was devastating to the farmers. “The situation certainly does not allow a lot of investment in the country due to political issues, which is why organizations such as Canaan in the West Bank are so critical.”
Today, The Palestine Fair Trade Association has 1,200 members, 49 cooperatives, and 20 olive press owners who are eligible to participate in Canaan’s program to ensure fair trade prices for small farmers so “no one can buy at exploitive market conditions anymore”. And the seeds of this project continue to grow; it is now a self-sustaining, in part due to two news grants from the Belgium and Dutch governments to develop a European market plan and explore opportunities in Scandinavia. Canaan has since developed a ‘Treesfor Life’ program to help plant trees and restart farms in areas which have been devastated from the ongoing Mideast conflict. In addition, a micro-lending program for Palestinian women has received support from non-profit groups in countries such as France, the U.S. as well as many individual donors.
Yet, Dr. Abufarha says, there is still “a lot more to do.” As he reflects on what has been accomplished through his organization, he envisions the potential for improving lives in the context of the broader conflict. “We have managed to bring economic and social development to Palestine in a positive way as innovative producers. Palestinians are now part of a global sustainability movement with a voice that did not exist here before…they were left out of the global community, yet now they are at the heart of it, so we are very happy to be here. As a Palestinian who has lived abroad, I never forgot the struggles of where I came from, so I can only hope this organization will continue to have even greater effects for the future of our farmers, and generations to come.”
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