Olive farmers in Palestine: Quality pays off

He explains why: “Closer contact between the producers allows problems to be solved more quickly, and the agricultural advice is reflected in higher yields.”

Our partner organization Campaign Olive Oil started the project “Quality Plus” six years ago in three Palestinian villages. The aim of the project is to increase incomes in smallholder olive oil production by improving quality and organizing the farmers into cooperatives.

Thanks to gentle harvesting methods, reduced storage times and optimized processes, for example, the oil's acidity could be reduced, allowing it to be sold as highest quality grade “Extra Vergine”. In addition, over 200 small farmers have now been certified organic. Most families have always produced without pesticides and artificial fertilizers, but as individual farms they would not have been able to bear the cost of certification. However, this is necessary to obtain organic prices on the market.

The measures pay off for the farmers: “The price for organic oil in the top quality grade is about 20% higher,” explains Hasan Kharshah with satisfaction.