MENAQUA’s story in Palestine
In this newsletter we would like to focus on our activities in one of the countries which is now also part of our Climate Corridor Initiative (CCI): Palestine.
Palestine suffers from fluctuating and low rain fall. Over the years, the scarcity of rainwater and limited access to natural irrigation water resources, led to the expansion of the degraded areas in Palestine.
As a consequence, the Palestinian farmers are struggling to cultivate their lands using the traditional methods of harvesting water from rainfall to irrigate their planted trees.
Therefore, MENAQUA, aimed to find the appropriate agricultural technique to help the Palestinian farmers optimize the use of water resources.
Our activities
MENAQUA partnered with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) as well as Land Life Company (LLC) to bring the cocoon technology to Palestine.
This brilliant green technology can significantly reduce the water consumption in agriculture and increase the survival rates of the young seedlings. We used the cocoon technology in two pilot locations: West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In 2017 in West bank, we started our activities as MENAQUA in the Middle East by planting 200 olive and almond trees using the cocoon technology at Al-Reem Valley (Saer Municipality) and Ben Saleh Valley (Daheriya Municipality).
In Gaza Strip we planted 300 olive trees using the cocoon technology in the Training and Agriculture Research Center of UAWC in Gaza, Khan Younes municipality.
The pilot projects targeted the vulnerable families who suffer from the scarcity of water resources to plant their lands.
Currently, Menaqua is discussing plans with the Palestinian authority and The Netherlands Representative Office for potential projects in 2021.
Our contribution to the SDGs in Palestine
Through the climate corridor initiative, Menaqua strive to contribute to the SDGs. For Palestine, we focused on finding a solution to allow the farmers adapt to climate change (SDG no. 13). Moreover, we helped a large number of farmers to cultivate their lands and increase their agriculture production using the cocoon technology (SDG no. 15).
Eventually, these lands will secure a sustainable income for the farmers (SDG no. 8). With MENAQUA’s contribution in Palestine, we aim to build a global partnership for sustainable development (SDG no. 17)
About Menaqua
We are a land restoration organization, establishing ourselves in the Middle East and North Africa with the primary focus on Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. Our mission is to plant trees through agroforestry and reforestation programs ignorer to restore degraded lands and improve local livelihoods.
“We Listen. We Learn. We Plant. We Grow”.
