ESDC Activities for the years 2020-2023
As part
of the Economic and Social Development Center of Palestine (ESDC)to implement
its strategic plan for the years 2017-2022 and 2023-2027, intensive and sincere
efforts were made by the executive body during the years 2020-2023 and under
the directives of the Board of Directors to achieve the strategic goals and
reach the target groups with which the ESDC works in various Palestinian
governorates, including (the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem), where the ESDC
implemented more than 25 projects during the years 2020-2023, with
implementation periods ranging between six months and three years.
The ESDC achievements touched the needs of the agricultural
sector and kept pace with climate changes using clean energy and developing the
fishing sector, fishermen in the Gaza Strip and fish breeders in the West Bank,
especially Jericho and the Jordan Valley. In addition to developing the
livestock sector, developing water resources, operating artesian wells and
rehabilitating them using solar energy, these interventions have
institutionalized ways to enhance the real resilience of farmers in diverse
geographical areas.
The most important achievements of the ESDC during the years:
Target
Groups:
The
number of beneficiaries of the ESDC work programs over the years reached 398044 directly
beneficiaries, distributed as follows:
o During 2020:
271799 beneficiaries
were directly targeted (108,258 males / 157,163 females), 6,361 beneficiaries
of children, 17 people with special needs, more than 363 cooperative societies
and grassroots community institutions, more than 260 companies, 11 health
centers and 114 local councils.
o During 2021: 38,656 beneficiaries were directly targeted (16,080 males / 21,781 females), 723
beneficiaries of children, 72 people with special needs, 70 cooperative
societies, 98 companies and health centers, and 162 municipal and village
councils.
o During 2022 : 60249 Beneficiary directly (15857Males\34170 females),
10,150 beneficiaries of children, 72 people with special needs, 70 cooperative
societies and 206 savings and credit groups BASKET.
o During 2023: 27,340 beneficiaries were directly targeted (14,198 males / 12,344 females), 758
beneficiaries of children, 40 people with special needs, 40 cooperative
societies or grassroots institutions, 2 companies, and 228 savings and credit
groups.
Land
development and response to agricultural clusters:
Over
the years from 2020-2023, the ESDC rehabilitated approximately 5321 dunums of
agricultural land and built 1320
m2 of stone chains and 29 km of agricultural roads, distributed within:
o In 2020:
more than 890 dunums
of agricultural land and 10 km were rehabilitated to rehabilitate agricultural
roads and dig 20 agricultural wells.
o In 2021: 3829 dunums
of agricultural land were rehabilitated
(720 dunums in the Gaza Strip, 1106 dunums in the northern West Bank, 353
dunums in the central valley, 500 dunums in the northern valley, 1000 dunums in
the Bqai’a area, and 150 dunums in the Arab Development Society (ADS)),
agricultural roads with a length of 15 km were built, 3 artesian wells were
rehabilitated, in addition to the installation of 10.3 km of water tanker
lines.
o In 2022: 127 dunums of agricultural land were
rehabilitated, 11 earthen ponds were rehabilitated in Jiftlik, Zubeidat, Marj
Na’ja and Marj al-Ghazal, and local water networks were expanded with a length
of 3 km. In addition to the construction of a water treatment pond with a
capacity of 500 cups in Anza.
o In 2023: 475 dunums of agricultural land were
rehabilitated, 1320 m2 of stone chains were built, 4 km of
agricultural roads were rehabilitated, in addition to the construction of
14,130 m of domestic water networks that benefited 15,600 people, and 12
earthen ponds owned by 80 farmers were rehabilitated, where the absorptive
capacity of these ponds is about 20,000 m2. The Al-Nuwaimeh and Al-Duyuk water
network was expanded by 3 km.
VSLAs
Groups
This
model of convenient financing has begun to spread in rural Palestine under the
leadership of ESDC.
The
number of active groups reached more than 228. It saved millions of dollars and
granted hundreds of loans to finance small economic projects, which positively
and quickly affected the situation of families and had a significant impact on
the development of society and the reduction of unemployment. 4581 women and 92
men benefited from these groups, with a
total saving of 9,867,080
NIS, and the value of loans granted from these groups amounted to 5,275,480 NIS 1312
loans for purposes ranging from establishing or improving income-generating
activities, improving housing, education, debt repayment, medical, consumer
loans. Where the savings per year were:
o In 2023: the value of group savings amounted to 7,669,200 NIS and 2,390,000
NIS for the total value of loans.
o In 2022: the savings amounted to 102,670 NIS and 33 loans worth 79,000 NIS were
granted.
o In 2021: the value of savings was 316,060 NIS, and the value
of loans granted was 1756660 NIS.
o In 2020:
the value of savings was 1779150 NIS, and the volume
of lending amounted to 1049820 NIS.
Clean
and renewable energy (solar) and gas production
o
During 2020: 6 solar energy systems were installed by the ESDC, for the benefit of associations,
small companies and institutions, with the aim of reducing their production and
operational costs. The total production
capacity was 134.6 kWh
produced from energy per year.
o
During
2021: a 50 kW solar power plant was installed and operated at the Ezbet Salman well site, and a 90 kW solar power unit was installed to
cover the wastewater treatment plant’s need for electrical energy for the
Kharas municipality in Hebron governorate.10
kW was installed to cover the
need of two barley farming units in Edna and Tayaseer, solar energy systems
were installed for the benefit of the Bazaria Women’s Cooperative with a
capacity of 10.8 kW and the Tubas Women’s Cooperative, solar systems with a capacity of 273 kW
were installed through the UNDP project to cover the needs of farmers
As the total capacity during 2021 of solar
energyis 433 kWh produced from energy annually = 875 MWh
The
construction of the biodigester system has been implemented at the Abbasiya
Farmers Association (working to convert livestock waste into liquid fertilizer
with specific specifications to be used in improving vegetable production.) It
is a local bioplant on the farm that produces large quantities of effective
fertilizer rich in organic matter, and works to reduce herbicides significantly
because weed seeds die during the digestion process in biodigestion. The biodigester project in Abbasiya is considered a
unique project in the Jericho area as a purposeful factory for producing biogas
fertilizer.
o
During 2022:
the ESDC implemented total energy production per year = 400
MW. While the infrastructure of the system’s capacity can be increased to
produce up to 491 MW
per year.
In 2022, a solar power
unit was established to operate the Kharas wastewater treatment plant with a
capacity of 90 kW, benefiting 6,000
citizens. The ESDC also maintained the
follow-up of the purification plant in Kharas with a production capacity of 500
cubic meters per day to be treated by modern technology with Palestinian
engineering design and Palestinian supervision and implementation.
The
treatment and disposal unit of the Anza Agricultural Cooperative Society for
the waste of the olive press and from peat zebar was prepared and disposed of
by agricultural methods.
o In
2023, a water desalination plant for
the ice production machine in Gaza was supplied and installed for the benefit
of the Fishermen’s Syndicate, benefiting 640 fishermen and fishermen’s wives.
A machine for the production of grated ice
with a storage room was supplied and installed for 766 fishermen in Khan Yunis.
Supply and installation of a solar energy unit
and a water pump for an agricultural well in Gaza, benefiting 102
beneficiaries.
Innovative
agricultural business:
o ESDC in 2020 supported and developed a range of
innovative pioneering initiatives in the
field of agriculture, such as the development of a fish farm
o
As part of its development goal
“Strengthening membership-based institutions” such as civil society
organizations engaged in raising the community economy in Palestine, the ESDC contributed in 2020 to benefiting 19,619
family members (9,810 males and 9,810 females), and 55 services were promoted
and facilitated through various activities and follow-up. This improved the
increase in social capital by 130%, the size of the assets of 22
membership-based institutions increased by 800%, and the size of their capital
increased from NIS 201,489 to NIS 3,223796, an increase of 1,300%.
o In 2021: 12,087 (6,140 men and 5,947 women) reported, and these
institutions became able to meet the needs and rights of their members, as the
size of the assets of the targeted associations increased by 124% to reach
1923106 shekels during the year 2021, and the volume of capital increased by
85% to reach 5278502 shekels.
o
In 2023: 40 cooperative societies and/or grassroots
agricultural and women’s institutions in the West Bank governorates were
supported with technical assistance, capacity building, developing their
business and economic activities, and improving their access to local and
foreign markets.
Innovative Agricultural Views
- In 2023: two pieces
of agricultural observations were established focused on strawberry production and the
development of cherry tomato production.
- During 2022: 3
viewing pieces were created (the first: reducing the spread of the red
palm weevil through the use of sensors implemented through a mobile
application and by issuing information to a control unit, the infected
tree is identified and only the infected tree is treated, as 360 sensors
were placed in the land of the Arab construction project in Jericho. Second:
Planting spring cucumbers inside the houses of the white mesh and the
productivity was very high, as the production of one acre reached 4 tons
and the market price was 5 shekels / kg per kilogram. (Tammun) . Third:
Growing peas inside greenhouses in Zubeidat
–
Planting
oliviera plant as a pilot project (an area of 3 dunums) in the construction
project in partnership with the Research Center of Al-Quds University, by
exploiting the land with high salinity and irrigating it with water of high
salinity concentrations, benefiting 40 women from 3 associations.
- During 2021: Two solar-powered barley farming units
were established with a daily production capacity of about 400 kg of green
barley used in animal nutrition. Also, the establishment of 12 small units
with a capacity of 20 kg per day for barley cultivation were distributed
to a group of livestock breeders, 3 units were provided to Kadoorie
University in Hebron, and a commercial unit for barley cultivation at
Tayasir site.
The
center worked on establishing a farm for sheep mothers with 67 heads of
excellent breeds
- During 2020: irrigated
viewing pieces were established for vegetable and almond crops
Helping
marginalized groups and improving the economic situation
·
Job
creation
The
ESDC contributed effectively to confronting the Corona pandemic and helping
marginalized groups that were economically affected by the closure and helping
farmers improve their economic situation by providing various job
opportunities. The ESDC activities contributed to the creation of 1159 job opportunities, distributed according to:
- In 2020: employed 469 unemployed workers affected by the
Corona pandemic in the field of land rehabilitation and agricultural
roads.
- In 2021: the ESDC worked to provide 36 job opportunities
in the Gaza Strip, and 300
job opportunities in the rehabilitation of land for the unemployed
to overcome the Corona crisis.
- In 2022: 159 temporary job
opportunities were provided for a period of 6 months for beneficiaries
affected by the Corona pandemic, where beneficiaries worked in
agricultural activities and through agricultural cooperatives and village
councils in ten towns in Salfit and Nablus governorates. and 36 job opportunities
for marginalized families in the Gaza Strip
- In 2023: temporary
job opportunities were created in agricultural businesses and cooperatives
for 159 beneficiaries
in the governorates of Nablus and Salfit affected by the consequences of
the Corona pandemic.
·
Emergency
humanitarian aid
In
light of what the region is witnessing from facing the effects of the Corona
pandemic and facing the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip on the seventh
of October 2023, the ESDC contributed to raising the economic empowerment of
some marginalized families through its contribution to the progress of various
food parcels and vouchers that benefited approximately 5789 beneficiaries in
various governorates, and they were distributed according to:
o
In 2023: 1830 beneficiaries were
supported (1405 beneficiaries from Gaza, Shamma Gaza and Rafah governorates
with vouchers that meet the needs of these families of foodstuffs, and 425
beneficiaries in the West Bank)
o
In
2022: 546 beneficiaries benefited from food vouchers
o
In
2021: 512 beneficiaries of vouchers were provided
o
In
2020: 2901 food baskets consisting of the products of
cooperative societies were distributed.
