The West Bank isn’t the most obvious location for almond farming. For starters, water and land are in short supply in the heavily contested region and almonds are notoriously thirsty. Much of the traditional knowledge associated with almond production in the region has been lost. And government help is in short supply too.
“As you might imagine, in the occupied Palestine territories we don’t have strong [government] institutions. So there’s no real agricultural research or reliable, efficient extension services,” says Samer Jarrar, director of the non-profit Canaan Center for Organic Research and Extension (CORE), which is trying to promote the region’s almond sector.
Set up by the Canaan Fair Trade company, an exporter of Fairtrade-certified produce from Palestine, CORE’s mandate is to promote the organic production of fruits, vegetables and grains in Palestine and abroad.
Its initial focus is on almonds, which are native to Palestine. The local variety that CORE uses (Hassan al-Assad) is widely prized for size and flavour, and is more drought resistant than those in other regions. A growing awareness of almonds’ nutritious properties has seen global demand rise for the hard-shelled fruit. The timing is good too, with buyers potentially looking for new suppliers as drought-hit California (which is home to about 80% of world almond supply) sees production fall.
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