Book Detail
Author: Hisham Awartani
Publisher: PECDAR
Date: 01/03/1994
Price: $ 0.00
 Palestinian agriculture has been subject to profound exogenous and internal transformations during the past 28 years, bearing on access to land and water resources, trade relations, technology transfer, and regulatory environment. The net impact of these developments has reflected itself conflicting indicators. In general, there have been a pronounced shift in the market orientation of most production patterns, a fairly high rate of growth in aggregate income, and a sharp rise in productivity m most intensive agricultural branches. Growth in agriculture has been accompanied by a sharp drop in the number of workers in this sector, and by a relatively stable size of land and water resources used. Land under cultivation has in fact undergone some drop in the West Bank.
The future role of agriculture has to be envisioned within a set of expectations and poetical setting which are significantly different from those prevailing since 1967. It is now expected that Palestinians will have somewhat more sovereignty over their agriculture, a more relaxed access to land and water resources, larger investment outlays, and they will be able to avail themselves with a more favorable regulatory framework and supportive institutions. More importantly, Palestinians will have to get prepared to the potential consequences of free trade at the regional and international levels. It is true that they can enjoy important comparative advantages vis-à-vis the Israel in the future, but the Israeli markets will be probably open to other countries in the region where agriculture is more competitive than in Palestine.
Notwithstanding its considerably more difficult competitive setting, Palestinian agriculture is still expected to grow to such size that it plays a key role in creating employment, in improving the balance of trade, and in meeting the rapidly rising demand for food. Yet, it is imperative that agricultural poesies be clearly focused on restraining expansion in the area of land and water resources committed to this sector. This is particularly critical in the case of Gaza Strip, where both resources are badly needed to meet vital housing, industrial, and service needs. Consequently, the development strategy should be targeted at minimizing production costs, raising productivity to its furthest limit, and modernizing marketing services and infrastructure.
It is imperative that the private sector be entrusted with the central role in sponsoring development initiatives in Palestinian agriculture. This implies that Palestinian growers and agro firms should be expected to allocate the capital resources and manpower needed for a vibrant agricultural sector. But there is a lot that the public sector institutions should do to facilitate private initiatives in this sector.
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