Following the kick-off meeting of the ENPARD South initiative in Palestine, the Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with CIHEAM-IAMM, organised on August 24th 2016 in Ramallah a workshop on the socio-economic dimensions of water use in agriculture in Palestine.

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This technical workshop gathered approximately 40 actors specialised in irrigation and water management in agriculture. Tareq ABULABAN, ENPARD focal point in Palestine and Director General of the Ministry of Agriculture in charge of Agricultural Marketing, introduced the the workshop, which was chaired by Issam NOFAL, Director General for Agricultural Water in the MOA in charge of agricultural water, and moderated by Numan MIZYED, Professor of water resources engineering at An-Najah National University and ENPARD National Expert.

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The workshop and discussion were organised in two sequences, one dedicated to the socio-economic dimensions of water use in agriculture and its optimization, the second devoted to the use of wastewater to irrigate crops. The workshop was structured around presentations made by four experts. Two of them were specialists identified by the ENPARD South Support Programme team:

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• Enrico NERILLI, irrigation specialist from the CIHEAM-Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari, Italy presented the European experience on the efficient use of water resources in agriculture; 

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• Jacques BERAUD, water and environmental specialist in Société du Canal de Provence, France, presented a French experience on using treated wastewater in agriculture.

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The remaining two experts were identified by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture:

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• Fadi DWEIK, of the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem, presented a Palestinian case study on the socio-economic dimension of water use in Mediterranean Agriculture;

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• Nasser QADUS, from the American Near East Refugee Aid, showcased the use of treated water in Agriculture: socio-economic and legal aspects - a case study from Palestine.

 

The presentations were followed by discussions between the experts and with the participants. Many ideas, recommendations and propositions were made from the presentations and exchanges, as summarized below: 

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1. On the issue of efficient use of water resources in agriculture:

• Water pricing can be an efficient tool in the perspective of better resource management, and in fine to reduce the production cost and improve product competitiveness. However, this instrument should be adapted to the situation in each country and territory. In the case of Palestine, improving the infrastructure and state regulation seems necessary taking into account the fact that the majority of water resources in agriculture accessible to the farmers is held and managed by private individuals;

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• In order to improve the management of water resources, beyond the role that the state should play in terms of price regulation and infrastructure construction,  the establishment  of water user associations is an important step to consider;

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• The case study presented by Fadi DWEIK showed the efficiency of  “balanced pressure drip irrigation system” in terms of cost reduction in water consumption, as well as soil productivity. This new method can help in adapting to climate change

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   2. On the matter of using treated wastewater in agriculture:

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• The Palestinian case study presented by Nasser QADUS showed that the use of treated wastewater achieves significant economic and financial returns. The state could play a major role in diffusing this technique at  national level. Regulations and follow up are necessary, to fix a water price and to ensure sanitary quality. Furthermore, a revision of the law concerning the use of wastewater in irrigation should be envisioned. Finally, taking into account the high cost of water treatment, the state should elaborate an incentive based policy for farmers in order to help them financing the adoption of this technique but also to surpass a cultural blockage;

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• The use of wastewater to produce fruits and vegetables destined to export to the  European Union is not considered as an obstacle but more like an opportunity, because  if the products respect certain quality standards, they can be exported and sold on European markets. The Global Gap Standard, a frame of reference widely used in Europe, allows for the use of wastewater in production if specific standards are used and followed.

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A second National workshop will be organised in Palestine during the last trimester of 2016, the theme of which has not been identified yet. It will tackle one of themes identified by the Palestinian ENPARD  think tank, as mentioned in the article about the kick-off meeting in Palestine.