A delegation from the Danish and Norwegian Church Aid Office in Palestine (DCA-NCA) and MA’AN Development Center, visited the date palm farm of farmer Mohammad Al-Rae’e and the "Rift Valley" company in Jordan Valley at Jericho. This visit was part of the project "Promoting Green and Sustainable Economic Growth in Palestine," funded by DANIDA in partnership with DCA-NCA.
The visit aimed to check how the project helped small farmers and big agricultural companies in improving production and increasing export opportunities to international markets.
The delegation included representatives from DANIDA and DCA-NCA, both international and local officials. Among them were the International Director of DCA-NCA, the Director of the Palestine Office, the Advocacy Officer, the Programs Director, and the Project Director. Also present were MA’AN’s Economic and Social Empowerment Manager, the MEAL Manager, the Resource Development and Communications Manager, and the Project’s Coordinator.
The tour started with a visit to Mohammad Al-Ra’i’s farm. He is a 60-year-old farmer from Jericho who owns a date palm farm. With the implementation of the project, the price of dates increased by 4 shekels per kilogram compared to previous years, which improved his income.
Next, the delegation visited "Rift Valley," a Palestinian agricultural company with international certificates for producing clean and safe dates for export. The company presented its advanced farming and packaging techniques and confirmed its commitment to helping small farmers. As part of the project, "Rift Valley" bought dates from small farmers for the first time, exporting 10 tons to Denmark and many more tons to other countries. In total, the company purchased 270 tons of dates from small farmers.
The visit confirmed that the project helped farmers earn more money and allowed "Rift Valley" to expand its exports to Europe.
At the end of the visit, participants suggested expanding the project to support more farmers and provide them with extra technical help to improve production. They also highlighted the importance of developing cooperation between agricultural companies and small farmers to ensure long-term export success and stable economic growth in Palestine’s agricultural sector.
