Clusters Development Plan - Agricultural Cluster - Qalqilya 2021-2023.

This Agricultural Cluster Plan for the province of Qalqilya comes within the framework of the Government's approach to adopting a comprehensive economic development methodology according to the Clusters system, intending to (i) contribute to achieving sustainable competitive advantages for the Palestinian economy in all geographical areas and (ii) develop and encourage investment in all sectors. This is to realize what is stated by the Vision for the region of achieving excellence and quality in the agricultural sector to provide job opportunities, income, and food security for the citizen in a sustainable manner, and contributing to advancing economic growth in the governorate through the investment of natural resources, available market opportunities, and knowledge. The specific strategic objectives of this Plan are the same as in the general agricultural sector of Palestine, namely (i) a sustainable development to putting in place all institutional measures and providing the necessary political, social and economic environment to transform agriculture into a sustainable activity that provides income that meets all the requirements of a decent living; (ii) sustainable management of agricultural natural resources, adapted to climate change; (iii) increasing the production, productivity and competitiveness of agriculture in the domestic and international markets and its contribution to GDP and overall food security; and (iv) access of male and female farmers and entrepreneurs to quality agricultural services commensurate with the needs of the value chain in the agricultural sector.
To make agriculture more productive and sustainable, the Plan aims to (i) transfer water from four wells from within the city of Qalqilya to the eastern regions to irrigate cultivations of almonds of various kinds and fruits, in addition to vegetables in both protected and open fields; (ii) replace old and worn out irrigation water lines with new ones; (iii) rehabilitate underground wells to improve their capacity and increase their production; (iv) increase the irrigated area through the optimal distribution of water with high efficiency to reduce waste and achieve an increase of water use by 20% to be delivered to new agricultural areas and shift the agricultural pattern from rainfed to irrigated; (v) promote water harvesting from rainwater harvesting wells for the purposes of supplemental irrigation, animal watering and reducing the effects of drought; (vi) rehabilitate land by converting wastelands and unfit for agriculture into agricultural lands, through leveling lands, constructing terraces, building retaining walls, removing stones, plowing, and constructing wells and reservoirs to collect rainwater, planting suitable fruit trees, fencing the borders of reclaimed lands; (vii) protect farmland from wild boars; (viii) rehabilitate agricultural roads, in addition to the construction of side canals and cement culverts, wherever necessary for water drainage; (ix) expand fish farming.
In order to enhance more inclusive and effective agricultural and food systems, the document proposes to (i) introduce the cultivation of subtropical fruit trees, considered a high-value crop, whose provision of seedlings is supported by the Ministry, through the Greening Palestine Project; (ii) improve the business environment in agricultural production, processing, and marketing by (a) establishing a laboratory for the production of queen bees for the benefit of bee producers, (b) establishing laboratories for testing water, soil, oil, feedstuffs, and fertilizers provided with equipment, devices, and examination materials to improve the services provided and make the farmers obtain the results of the tests within hours, and (c) supporting the establishment of workshops for manufacturing the requirements of the beehives; (iii) support rural women; (iv) support farmers and producers to ensure their resilience, in particular, Bedouin communities; (v) support cooperatives, developing and increasing the service provided to farmers to reduce the costs of production through provision of agricultural tractors and equipment for the members; (vi) establish (a) packaging houses and post-harvest facilities to facilitate marketing operations (especially for the products that are exported), (b) a juice factory to accommodate the surplus of local production of agricultural crops, and (c) refrigerators for cooling and storage to cool and store the surplus of agricultural products; (vii) support new graduates with agricultural loans to integrate them into viable and sustainable agricultural and rural businesses; (viii) build farmers' capacities through training in topics related to irrigation, fertilization, pests and their control, seedling care, post-harvest operations, packing house management; (ix) develop fish breeding.
As for Governance, the Government formed a High Ministerial Committee to oversee the implementation of the Agricultural Development Plan for the governorate of Qalqilya aiming at (i) enhancing and coordinating cooperation between the various institutions to ensure the implementation of the plan’s interventions; (ii) coordinating the allocation of appropriate funding to implement the interventions according to the implementation period. Other bodies in charge of implementing the Plan are (i) Ministerial Technical Committee with the aim of technical follow-up to the Plan, and coordinating the implementation of interventions in a manner commensurate with the responsibilities of government institutions and the implementation projects; (ii) Governorate Committee which directs the activities and the public relations department for the plan and the media, and addresses the obstacles and urgent problems during the implementation; and (iii) Plan’s Implementation Team with the main task of supervising the implementation of the plan’s activities, and enhancing the roles of the various partners, in coordination with the Governorate Committee and the Technical Committee.