The Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency holds a session to discuss the draft report:
“Government’s Agricultural Sector Management Policy Challenges”
The Palestinian government should adopt a national public policy for managing the agricultural sector with a comprehensive and participatory plan and budget allocations to ensure its sustainability
Ramallah—In the presence of several relevant officials and civil institutions, the Civil Society Team for Enhancing Public Budget Transparency held a discussion session for a draft report entitled “Government’s Agricultural Sector Management Policy Challenges” to formulate recommendations to improve the agricultural sector’s management and overcome its challenges in Palestine. The report tracks the most important programs and activities approved by the government and implemented by the MoA, in addition to analyzing the budgets allocated to enhance land preservation and farmers’ resilience.
The session began with a speech by Issam Haj Hussein, Executive Director of Aman Coalition, who highlighted that the recommendations stem from civil society in general and the budget transparency team in particular and aim to push for a comprehensive public policy to manage the agricultural sector, which is a key pillar of development and steadfastness that is intertwined with many strategic issues.
Researcher Ashraf Samara presented the draft report, reiterating that the Israeli occupation forces represent the main obstacle to any official, civil, and private Palestinian efforts seeking to develop the agricultural sector. Such policies include land confiscation and settlement expansion on the largest areas of agricultural lands, especially the areas classified (C), which constitute 60% of Palestinian lands[RF1] ,. The occupying power further controls water sources, which became scarce in Palestinian arable not to mention stealing the remaining Palestinian waters. Such policies aggravated the Palestinian agricultural sector, which is evidenced by analyzing relevant economic indicators, such as the agricultural trade balance deficit (increasing the gap between agricultural imports and agricultural exports), the decline in the operational capacity of the agricultural sector, the decline in farmers' income levels, the increase in poverty rates among them, and, most importantly, the lack of food security and food sovereignty at the national level.
The Agriculture Ministry Budget Falls Below 1% of the Public Budget
Samara highlighted the report's main conclusions, summarizing them as poor funding and weak national planning, noting that the financial resources allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture's budget are low for all years. The budget line item for development expenditures allocated to it is not well adhered to. For example, in 2023, the estimated budget for the Ministry of Agriculture was 186.4 million shekels, of which ILS 90.9 million was allocated for development expenditures. However, the actual spending on this item was only ILS 44 million. The report highlighted that MoA is allocated less than 1% of the total Palestinian budget, which impedes its ability to implement development projects that meet the sector’s needs, as the actual annual spending is less than the estimated budgets. The report also addresses the Ministry of Agriculture's strategic plans, which provide a correct diagnosis of the reality of the Palestinian agricultural sector and its needs. Nevertheless, this diagnosis does not lead to concrete plans and achievements because of insufficient budgets. The report states that despite the improved level of partnership and transparency between the ministry and the actors in the agricultural sector, the heavy reliance on insecure external funding makes achievements unstable, which requires a comprehensive review of planning and implementation mechanisms.
Farmers' dissatisfaction and constant complaining about the status quo
The report noted the poor response to farmers' expectations and challenges, stressing the gap between the MoA’s vision and farmers' expectations, who demand a more effective role in supervision, guidance, and compensation for losses. Despite MoA’s documentation of agricultural losses resulting from disasters and occupation policies, compensation is inadequate and not disbursed promptly. Furthermore, the control of agricultural inputs should be improved, given the prevalence of substandard products in Palestinian markets. Many farmers also complain about the ineffective tax refunds, which are either unpaid by the Ministry of Finance or require fastidious procedures and delayed payment.
Farmers constantly complain about the ineffectiveness of many pesticides and agricultural inputs, as well as the lack of official laboratories in terms of number, equipment, and geographical distribution. They are also unhappy about the level of protection for Palestinian products, import policies, especially for livestock (sheep in particular), and smuggling of Israeli goods into Palestinian markets. Employment opportunities provided by the agricultural sector are also declining. According to labor force data published by the Palestinian Census, during the period 2015-2022, 10,000 jobs were lost. According to monitored foreign trade data issued by the Palestinian Census, the agricultural trade balance suffers from an escalating deficit, and by 2023, it will reach 520 million dollars due to the increase in imports of agricultural goods over exports. From 2014 to 2023, agricultural imports increased from 417 million dollars to 645 million dollars, with an annual increase rate of about 25 million dollars, compared to almost stagnation in exports of agricultural goods.
A national agricultural plan with budget allocations is needed
The report offers a set of recommendations for a practical framework to strengthen agricultural policies and ensure local production sustainability, the sector’s resilience, and food security. It most importantly highlights the need to formulate a comprehensive public policy that details the role of the Ministry of Agriculture in relief, supervision, assistance, and development. The policy should focus on expanding local production by reducing production costs instead of relying on imports, as well as participatory planning and implementation, and involving all concerned parties, including civil society, cooperative societies, and public and private sectors, under the supervision of the Ministry, to consolidate all efforts. to realize the plan. The financial allocations to agriculture need to be increased to ensure an effective implementation of the strategies and reform the agricultural insurance system in a manner that incentivizes rather than burdens farmers. Bureaucracy should be reduced to facilitate tax rebates and accelerate compensation procedures.
The report also underlines the need to develop agricultural water resources, improve monitoring and supervision, double the number of field staff and increase logistical capabilities, impose further control over medicines and pesticides and ensure the availability of healthy alternatives, as well as develop mechanisms to support and protect small farmers against unfair competition and smuggling, and restructure the tax refund system. The report also refers to the need to enhance land management, prevent urban sprawl, develop agricultural infrastructure and technology, increase food security, and organize agricultural production.
Discussion
In his intervention, Mahmoud Fatafta, Public and International Relations Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, explained that the pre-genocide agricultural sector differs from today’s sector as challenges escalated and resources became scarcer. He reiterated that MoA is not the only party responsible for the sector. Other institutions include the Land Authority, Islamic Waqf Ministry, Ministry of National Economy, and Ministry of Local Government, among others. Therefore, efforts must be united and coordinated to achieve sustainable sector development.
Fatafta indicated that self-sufficiency is not achievable in Palestine due to existing restrictions. Rain-fed agriculture represents over 80%, while irrigated crops constitute 11-19%. Gardening depends on olives as a strategic crop. Wheat self-sufficiency does not exceed 5%. Therefore, local food security represents a major challenge. In the livestock sector, the percentage of self-sufficiency in red meat (calves) does not exceed 15 percent. Fatafta added that achieving self-sufficiency in light of the restrictions imposed by the occupation, as 500,000 dunams of agricultural land are under Israeli control (settlements, training areas, bypass roads). On the other hand, the available land for agriculture does not exceed 200,000 dunams, mostly in arid and semi-arid regions, which compromises agricultural expansion and self-sufficiency.
He added that Palestine is self-sufficient in most vegetables, except for some crops during November and December, such as onions, potatoes, and tomatoes. At the same time, he pointed to the severe blow suffered by the agricultural sector in Gaza, highlighting that the West Bank used to purchase 30 percent of the vegetables from Gaza. Regarding the livestock sector, he indicated a 134% surplus of eggs, which the West Bank exported to the Gaza Strip.
In terms of exports, Fatafta noted that Palestine ranked fifth in the Arab world and eighth internationally in exporting dates last year, with a harvest of 22,000 tons of date production, which Fatafta attributed to the governance of dates that MoA worked on, by establishing a full national committee. Fatafta added that we are self-sufficient in the production of olive oil, which saw an increase last season, reaching 27,000 tons, while the local need is estimated at only 8,000 tons, and the rest is allocated for export. Regarding water, Fatafta pointed to the need to improve the infrastructure of agricultural irrigation networks, convert existing wells, or establish new underground wells, as the rate of irrigation water consumption has not exceeded 20 percent.
For his part, Mohammed al-Masri of the Ministry of Agriculture confirmed that the ministry is in the process of implementing an agricultural insurance program (voluntary, not mandatory), explaining that agricultural insurance is a prerequisite for farmers. He also noted that the ministry has established district offices in various governorates to enhance communication with farmers and provide them with the necessary support.
Issam Aruri, director of the Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid, stressed the importance of comprehensive agricultural planning that ensures the protection of production and agricultural land, noting the need to regulate the use of agricultural land and prevent its conversion to resorts or construction uses. Al-Arouri emphasized the need to activate planning with the participation of cooperatives and civil institutions that are concerned with the agricultural sector, under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, so that each party plays its role in supporting this vital sector.
In the same context, Dr. Muayad Bisharat of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees explained that the current stage - in light of the state of emergency, war, extermination and the occupation's policies of encouraging pastoral settlement and annexation in the West Bank - requires the development of a comprehensive national plan for the agricultural sector, and calls for raising the budget of the agricultural sector to more than 1%, with a focus on strengthening the budget of the government's agricultural plan. Bisharat recommended solving the issue of high fodder prices by exempting agricultural production inputs from taxes, and called for pressuring financiers to invest in and resume work in Classified C lands, which agricultural institutions are facing cautiously due to the existing risks.
Izzat Zeidan, a representative of the Coalition of Community Agricultural Institutions, emphasized the need to review the applicable government policies in coordination with civil work organizations, noting that the most prominent challenges lie in the fragmentation of ownership and multiple land uses, which require strategic solutions.
Dr. Azmi Shuaibi, AMAN's board advisor for anti-corruption affairs, concluded the session by emphasizing the main recommendation to adopt a national agricultural policy approved by the Palestinian government that accounts for the exceptional reality under occupation and the challenges of settlement in the West Bank. He stressed the importance of providing a supportive investment environment for agriculture and allocating an appropriate budget to develop a comprehensive national plan that goes beyond emergency solutions to long-term strategies that ensure the sustainability of this vital sector.
To watch the session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VH23NoiYVw
[RF1]The West Bank (not all Palestinian lands
