palestinian agricult ural water management project …

This publication was produced for the review of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It was produced under the Palestinian Agricultural Water Management Project, implemented by the Near East Foundation.

PALESTINIAN AGRICULTURAL WATER MANAGEMENT PROJECT FINAL REPORT September 28, 2017 – January 31, 2019

PHOTO OF RASHEED SHANTI & NETAFIM IRRIGATION SYSTEM, NEAR EAST FOUNDATION

i | FINAL REPORT – PAWM PROJECT USAID.GOV

USAID.GOV FINAL REPORT – PAWM PROJECT | ii

CONTENTS

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1

II. PROGRAM OVERVIEW 1

III. ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2A. OBJECTIVE 1: SUPPORT USE OF IRRIGATION & CROP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS, 2 B. OBJECTIVE 2: FARMERS PURCHASE ADVANCED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS 3 C. OBJECTIVE 3: FARMERS ACCESS TO FINANCE AND FINANCIAL LITERACY IMPROVED 5 D. OBJECTIVE 4: LOCAL AGRICULTURE PRIORITIES SUPPORTED BY SOCIAL FUND 7

IV. PROGRESS AGAINST WORK PLAN 7

V. CHALLENGES, REMEDIAL ACTIONS, AND LESSONS LEARNED 7

VI. PROJECT INDICATORS & IMPACT 10

APPENDIX A: PAWM YEAR 2 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN 15

APPENDIX B: GEO-MIS 19

1 | FINAL REPORT – PAWM PROJECT USAID.GOV

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Palestinian Agricultural Water Management project brought together a unique set of partners to encourage modernized, profitable, and environmentally sustainable agricultural development in the West Bank. The project introduced farmers in the West Bank to high-tech irrigation technology available through Netafim, helping greenhouse and date farmers install 37 high-tech irrigation systems covering over 150 hectares.

The project ended early on January 31, 2019, per USAID’s request to cease all programmatic implementation. Key accomplishments in the sixteen months of implementation include the following:

• Trained 39 farmers (including 8 women) in Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops covering principles and practical strategies for on-farm water conservation, water-use efficiency, crop production and farm profitability.

• 139 farmers (including 10 women) participated in a series of information sessions and trainings to introduce information on high-tech irrigation technologies, the principles of water conservation and water-efficient agricultural production, physical and chemical soil characteristics and the effect on crop water requirements, date palm diseases, and orchard fertilization scheduling.

• 89 farmers visited Netafim fertigation system demonstration sites in 5 different sessions.

• Completed technical assessments and irrigation system designs for 92 greenhouse and open field farmers and 21 date farmers.

• Installed 37 irrigation systems benefiting 43 farmers and covering 120 hectares.

• Trained more than 100 farmers in financial and banking literacy.

• The project continued to provide on-farm consultations to support irrigation system operation, and to reinforce the partnership between Netafim, PCARD, and the producer association. NEF and Netafim organized field-based trainings for 76 trainees in four different locations focused on maintenance and operation.

While the project was unable to conduct detailed follow-up monitoring due to the early end of the project, initial reports from cucumber farmers showed that the use of the Netafim systems has resulted in a 30-40% reduction in water and pesticide use, reduced incidence of diseases, and reduced labor.

II. PROGRAM OVERVIEW The Palestinian Agricultural Water Management project (PAWM) represents a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Near East Foundation (NEF), Netafim (a manufacturer of high-tech irrigation equipment and crop management technologies), Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), Palestinian Center for Agriculture Research and Development (PCARD), three banks and a Palestinian producer association to boost commercial production, sustainability, quality and profitability in high-potential agricultural value chains in the West Bank (WB): dates, greenhouse vegetables, and commercial field farmers. The PAWM project facilitates the adoption and use of advanced drip irrigation and crop management technology to overcome water scarcity in the agricultural sector and increase farmers’ credit access. NEF and the producer association facilitate relationships and deals between Netafim, MEII, participating banks, and date/vegetable farmers to achieve profitable, commercially oriented, and environmentally sustainable agricultural development. The partnership decreases equipment

USAID.GOV FINAL REPORT – PAWM PROJECT | 2

costs for farmers, increases Netafim’s Palestinian market reach, and improves water management and conservation, while enabling farmer relationships with financial institutions to boost access to capital. The project targets three agricultural centers in the WB: Jordan Valley (dates/vegetables), Jericho (dates/vegetables), and Tubas (vegetables); farmers in these areas are often early adopters of new crops and technologies.

NEF expects 20 date farmers, 128 greenhouse farmers, and 10 open field vegetable farmers will adopt advanced irrigation systems with crop management technologies over 507 ha, and hundreds more will have improved understanding of and access to a farm improvement loan guarantee fund administered by MEII. NEF expects that farmers that adopt advanced irrigation systems will experience an increase in gross margin of 20% on average and a 20% reduction in the amount of water used at the farm level. In total, GDA will reach at least 522 unique beneficiaries over the project implementation period of which 30% (157) will be women. The GDA creates a sustainable and locally-owned foundation for modernizing Palestinian agriculture and improving product quality by establishing private sector mechanisms for technology dissemination and farm equipment financing.

The project will contribute to increasing farmer productivity and profit, increasing the competitiveness of the private sector firm (Netafim) through improved market reach and the spread of technology, and develop young Palestinian agronomists’ workforce skills by aligning them with market needs through training and increased specialized knowledge. The production of key market-oriented crops will increase, agricultural water consumption will decrease, and relationships will be built between farmers and financial institutions.

III. ACTIVITIES AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS A. OBJECTIVE 1: SUPPORT USE OF HIGH-TECH IRRIGATION & CROP MANAGEMENT

SYSTEMS, FACILITATE FARMER VISITS TO MODEL IRRIGATION SITES

ACTIVITY 1.1: TRAINING OF TRAINERS ON HIGH-TECH IRRIGATION AND CROP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.

39 farmers (including 8 women) were trained in Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops. The project held an initial ToT session from April 8-10, 2018 in Israel on high-tech irrigation and crop management systems for 14 participants (including 1 woman), including key staff of the producer association, agronomists, volunteers, service providers, and PCARD members. This training was followed by another local training session for 14 participants (including 2 women) on May 16, 2018, arranged to accommodate participants who were unable to travel to Israel. These sessions covered principles and practical strategies for on-farm water conservation, water-use efficiency, crop production and farm profitability.

A follow up training of trainers session was held on January 23, 2019, at the NEF office, sharing more information on the relationship between soil and water. 23 farmers (including 7 women) participated in this follow-up training.

ACTIVITY 1.2: INFORMATION SESSIONS AND TRAINING FOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS ON HIGH-TECH IRRIGATION AND CROP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

PCARD representatives, NEF senior experts, and trained trainers (from Activity 1.1) held a series of information sessions and trainings for 139 farmers (129 men, 10 women) to introduce information on high-tech irrigation technologies, the principles of water conservation and water-efficient agricultural production, physical and chemical soil characteristics, and the effect on crop water requirements, date


palm diseases, and orchard fertilization scheduling.

ACTIVITY 1.3: FIELD VISITS TO MODEL NETAFIM SITES

NEF and Netafim organized 5 field visits to model Netafim sites after the installation of irrigation units. 89 farmers participated in these field visits, which introduced farmers to irrigation technology provided by Netafim and facilitated peer-to-peer learning.

The table below shows the field visits participants in every visit.

B. OBJECTIVE 2: FARMERS PURCHASE ADVANCED IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

ACTIVITY 2.1: DESIGN AND FACILITATE THE INSTALLATION OF IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

After the ToT and beneficiary vetting, NEF and Netafim began assessments for farmers interested in acquiring Netafim irrigation systems, offering design and pricing options. A total of 113 assessments were conducted for interested farmers, including 92 greenhouse and open field farmers and 21 date farmers. These assessments demonstrated Netafim system requirements for targeted farmers and provided detailed pricing criteria. Due to the technical nature, NEF and Netafim undertook all necessary measures

INFORMATION SESSIONS FOR COMMERCIAL FARMERS

SESSION DATE PARTICIPANTS

Session 1 16/5/2018 5

Session 2 24/6/2018 5

Session 3 19/7/2018 30

Session 4 27/9/2018 16

Session 5 29/9/2018 10

Session 6 10/10/2018 7

Session 7 29/10/2018 23

Session 8 23/11/2018 16

Session 9 27/11/2018 6

Session 10 6/12/2018 6

Session 11 20/12/2018 15

Total 139

FIELD VISITS TO MODEL NETAFIM SITES

FIELD VISIT DATE PARTICIPANTS

Field Visit 1 9/6/2018 20

Field Visit 2 20/9/2018 23

Field Visit 3 28/11/2018 6

Field Visit 4 23/1/2019 20

Field Visit 5 28/1/2019 20

Total 89


to ensure that criteria were covered and all farmer concerns were addressed. Not all farmers decided to advance in the process of system installation.

Based on these assessments, the project team found that the majority of greenhouse systems exceeded the original budgeted amount. While the project budgeted an average of $15,000 for greenhouse systems, the majority of systems were estimated at $18,000. This was primarily due to the average greenhouse farm being larger than originally estimated, resulting in the need for additional technical components, including an increased number of valves.

This pricing discrepancy would limit the ability of the project team to reach the original target of providing irrigation systems for 144 farmers (111 greenhouse, 33 date). With the greenhouse irrigation systems estimated at $18,000 per farmer, a total of 125 farmers could be reached while keeping the number of date farmers fixed (92 greenhouse; 33 date). Therefore, in collaboration with USAID and in order to maximize project reach, the project team decided that the best course of action was to reduce the number of date irrigation systems, which are more expensive, and increase the number of greenhouse irrigation systems funded to mitigate the increase in pricing. The revised and USAID approved irrigation system target is 148 (128 greenhouse and open field and 20 date). See the chart below for additional details:

REVISED PLANNING

ORIGINAL PLAN (PRE-ASSESSMENT)

PLAN WITH UPDATED COSTS (POST-ASSESSMENT

CURRENT PLAN: BENEFICARY MAXIMIZATION

Type Greenhouse Date Greenhouse Date Greenhouse Date

# of farmers 111 33 92 33 128 20

Average Cost $15,000 $50,000 $18,000 $50,000 $18,000 $50,000

Sum $1,665,000 $1,650,000 $1,656,000 $1,650,000 $2,304,000 $1,000,000

Total Cost $3,315,000 $3,306,000 $3,304,000

Total # of Beneficiaries

144 125 148

Ihab Merie and his Netafim system installed through the project.

NEAR EAST FOUNDATION

Maher Junaidi and his Netafim system installed through the GDA project.



The 113 assessed farms comprise a total area of 677 ha for date palm farming and 123 ha for greenhouses and open field. The table below shows the details disaggregated by location.

Following the completion of assessments and irrigation design, the project moved forward with the manufacture and installation of irrigation systems. The project installed 37 irrigation systems, benefiting 43 farmers and covering 120 hectares.

C. OBJECTIVE 3: FARMERS ACCESS TO FINANCE AND FINANCIAL LITERACY IMPROVED

ACTIVITY 3.1: IMPROVE ACCESS TO FINANCING AND BOOKKEEPING CAPABILITIES

MEII and NEF conducted six training sessions in the West Bank with 104 individuals (95 men; 9 women; 39 youth) focused on financial literacy. The training sessions covered topics related to bookkeeping; participants learned to record transactions in appropriate ledger accounts, prepare trial balances and balance sheets, and determine profit.

• June 24, 2018: Training in the Nablus Governorate for 14 participants (9 men; 5 women; 11 youth).

• July 19, 2018: Training in the Tammoun-Tubas Governorate for 30 participants (28 men; 2 women; 7 youth)

• September 20, 2018: Training in Kufur Dan in the Jenin Governorate for 24 participants (23 men, 1 woman; 5 youth).

• September 29, 2018: Training in Qalqilia City in coordination with the Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture for 9 participants (9 men; 2 youth).

• November 23, 2018: Training in Kufur Dan for 16 participants (all men; participants in Sept. 20th training) on accounting literacy and bookkeeping, with special attention to income statements, cash flow, and how these affect farming operations. Based on training evaluation and feedback, most participants had little knowledge on these subjects prior to the training.

• December 13, 2018: Training in Tubas in coordination with the Tubas Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture on banking literacy and accounting literacy (11 participants; 10 men, 1 woman; 4 youth).

FARM ASSESSMENTS COMPLETED

LOCATION # DATE FARMERS DATE PALM AREA (HA)

# GREENHOUSE FARMERS

GREENHOUSE AREA (HA)

Jericho 21 677 6 8 Tubas 0 0 18 25 Jordan Valley 0 0 15 18 Jenin 0 0 32 32 Qaliqilya 0 0 6 8 Tulkarem 0 0 8 10 Nablus 0 0 5 6 Hebron 0 0 2 16 Total 21 677 92 123


MEII also worked with financial service providers to develop agricultural loan requirements customized for the Tamweeli Platform. MEII is in the process of reviewing 3 finance requests from farmers who attended workshops, although these are all for purposes other than irrigation systems.

Trainings hosted by MEII on financial literacy.



ACTIVITY 3.2: ONGOING FIELD-BASED TRAINING TO SUPPORT OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF SYSTEMS

NEF and Netafim organized field-based trainings for 43 trainees in four different locations; these focused on system maintenance and operation.

D. OBJECTIVE 4: LOCAL AGRICULTURE PRIORITIES SUPPORTED BY SOCIAL FUND

ACTIVITY 4.1: SOCIAL FUND ESTABLISHED AND ADMINISTERED

NEF established a social fund and collected contributions from farmers and from Netafim. The fund, independent from PAWM, will be used to train farmers, with a particular focus on increasing knowledge of irrigation technologies. As no US government funds were collected for the fund, NEF and USAID agreed during the closeout of activities that no further reporting is required.

IV. PROGRESS AGAINST WORK PLAN The PAWM project made progress as projected against its implementation plan. A chart measuring progress against the work plan can be found in Appendix 1.

V. CHALLENGES, REMEDIAL ACTIONS, AND LESSONS LEARNED The PAWM project team worked with USAID to manage challenges, document lessons learned and implement solutions. Learning from this experience can strengthen future implementation and the design of any new GDA projects.

Introducing Farmers to the PPP model

While drip irrigation systems have been used in the West Bank, Netafim offers advanced technology that reduces both water and fertilizer inputs. As a market-based approach that invites farmers to contribute substantially to technology costs, the GDA represents a shift from business-as-usual development models. Beneficiaries must learn about the technology, evaluate the return on investment, determine whether to adopt new systems, identify finance options, and facilitate any necessary site upgrades. Facilitating these steps requires time and a shift in mindset for beneficiaries.

To overcome these barriers, NEF ensured farmers were able to visit operational systems in the field and to speak with other early adopters to build confidence in the new systems. NEF also worked with Netafim to help identify costs and potential returns.

FIELD-BASED TRAINING & SUPPORT

FIELD VISIT DATE PARTICIPANTS

Training 1 9/6/2018 20

Training 2 20/9/2018 23

Total 43


Estimating Costs and Setting Targets

Greenhouse irrigation systems were more expensive than planned, largely because the greenhouse sites were larger than anticipated, requiring more equipment. NEF worked with USAID to adapt targets to ensure the maximum number of beneficiaries were reached on budget. For future work, robust assessments of diverse installation contexts are necessary at the project design stage to ensure an accurate understanding of beneficiary plans, system requirements, and costs to enable better budgeting and targeting within project design.

Site Readiness

Where site assessments confirm that interested farmers have high-potential and qualified sites, there remains a challenge of ensuring that the right infrastructure is available on site. For example, some farmers do not have pool irrigation systems but pump directly from artesian wells. Other farmers lack permanent or adequate sources of electricity. To address these challenges, NEF and Netafim worked with farmers to provide guidance or instructions on how to prepare their land for the system.

Structuring Finance

NEF worked with USAID and partners to design the project to facilitate farmers’ access to credit. Yet, in practice, we found farmers were extremely reticent to use credit to purchase the irrigation systems. This reluctance came from high interest rates that farmers did not see as feasible, significant loan guarantees requested by financial institutions, and farmers’ religious objections to loans with interest. At the end of Year 1, no farmers had chosen to access financing for the purchase of irrigation systems. MEII had received requests for finance from farmers who attended project workshops, but all were for other purposes.

The lack of interest in credit did not hamper the uptake of new technology by the targeted group. As targeted farmers were essentially mid-sized business owners, they had savings available to invest in the systems or they preferred to time their commitments for after the harvest season when they had cash available to invest.

Facilitating Purchases, Manufacturing and Systems Installation

Challenges associated with timing led to project delays by the end of the first year. Specifically, the time required for site assessments and system design, manufacturing and installation is significant (2-4 months depending on system complexity and size). This had significant impacts on the timing of systems delivery.

Due to access limitations in the West Bank, only one qualified technical expert from Netafim could conduct site assessments. Further complicating matters, more complex contexts require longer time and more intensive assessments, design, and delivery. For example, the assessment for a date palm farm requires around one week, compared to one day for greenhouse applications.

Farmers’ commitment to paying for systems with their own funds, rather than credit, had timing and communications implications. Specifically, where farmers paid for systems in installments rather than in a single lump sum, Netafim did not order systems and begin manufacturing until receiving the final payment.

The manufacturing time for systems took longer than initially expected (over twenty days for greenhouse systems, compared to an initial estimate of one week). In order to overcome these challenges and in light of the early truncation of the project, NEF increased communication with Netafim and put into place a plan to accelerate the installation of new systems. For future projects, accurate understanding of assessments, manufacturing time and processes, and requirements to trigger manufacturing is critical for


project design and must be clearly communicated to farmers to ensure common expectations and appropriate timing for the delivery of irrigation systems relative to agricultural seasons.

Operations and Maintenance

Netafim provided one-on-one training with most farmers to demonstrate start-up and operation of the system. Using a training-of-trainers approach and investing in capacities of local civil society groups, NEF ensured there was sufficient technical assistance available in local farmers’ communities to support successful and sustainable operation and maintenance of high-technology systems. Based on feedback received to date, it appears the trainings were sufficient, and farmers are fully able to operate the systems.

Tracking Progress: Monitoring and Evaluation

The project developed a detailed monitoring and evaluation plan to track the impact of systems on farmer production, profits, and water usage. Appropriate budget and time need to be allocated to allow for farm visits and surveys to track project impact.

Saed Odeh and his Netafim system installed through the GDA project.



VI. PROJECT INDICATORS & IMPACT The PAWM project developed a detailed Monitoring and Evaluation Plan to track project activities and impact. Due to the early end of the project, follow-up monitoring could not be undertaken with farmers who installed systems to further track the impact of the project.

SUMMARY OF PROJECT INDICATORS, TARGETS, AND IMPACT

RESULT MEASUREMENT CURRENT QUARTER

YEAR 2 TARGET

PROJECT (ACTUAL)

Overall Objective: Improve the profitability and sustainability of high-potential agricultural subsectors through the introduction of improved irrigation technology.

PI 1 Difference in gross margin per hectare (calculation of overall productivity, input costs and revenue from sales) from before and after project interventions.

NA 15% NA

Intermediate Objective 1: Farmers use of high-tech irrigation and crop management systems enhanced.

PI 2. Number of farmers and others who have applied improved technologies or management practices as a result of program activities.

18 99 37

PI 3. Number of hectares under improved technologies or management practices as result of program activities. 115 352 120

OI 1.1. Number of service providers trained. 11 22 39

OI 1.2. Number of farmers trained. 85 345 139

OI 1.3. Number of people who participate in field visits to model irrigation sites. 46 100 89

PI 4. Water use per hectare on land irrigated with Netafim systems as compared to prior season(s) without Netafim systems and/or on hectares in the same season without the technology.

NA 20% NA

PI 5. Water costs to the farmer on land irrigated with Netafim systems as compared to prior season(s) without Netafim systems and/or on hectares in the same season without the technology.

NA 25% NA

PI 6. Production per hectare (as compared to prior season(s) without Netafim systems and/or to hectares in the same season without the technology.

NA 20% NA

Intermediate Objective 2: Farmers access to finance and financial literacy improved.

PI 7. Number of farmers who demonstrate increased financial literacy following accounting support.

NA 45 NA

PI 8. Number of target farmers who access new financial services or products as a result of project activities.

NA 45 NA

OI 2.1. Number of farmers that receive accounting support. 19 140 19

OI 2.2. Number of farmers who receive field-based training and on-farm consultations for operation and maintenance of Netafim systems and associated crop management practices.

37 99 43

Intermediate Objective 3: Local agriculture priorities supported by social fund.

OI 3.1. Number of agriculture priorities identified and supported through the social fund. 0 13 0

OI 3.2. Number of people who benefit from social fund supported priorities. 0 300 0



INDICATOR YEAR 2 TARGET

PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


15% NA NA

Due to the early end of the project, follow-up surveys could not be completed with participants.



PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


99 37 18

This includes all farmers who installed improved irrigation systems.

PI 3. Number of hectares under improved technologies or management practices as a result of program activities.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

PI 3. Number of hectares under improved technologies or management practices as a result of program activities.

352 120 115

This includes the hectares covered by installed systems.

OI 1.1 Number of service providers trained.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 1.1. Number of service providers trained. 22 39 11

39 trained in training of trainers workshops.


OI 1.2. Number of farmers trained.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 1.2. Number of farmers trained. 345 139 85

PCARD representatives, NEF senior experts, and trained trainers (from Activity 1.1) held a series of information sessions and trainings for 139 farmers (129 men, 10 women) to introduce information on high-tech irrigation technologies, the principles of water conservation and water-efficient agricultural production, physical and chemical soil characteristics and the effect on crop water requirements, date palm diseases, and orchard fertilization scheduling.

OI 1.3. Number of people who participate in field visits to model irrigation sites.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 1.3. Number of people who participate in field visits to model irrigation sites. 100 89 46



PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


20% NA NA




PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


25% NA NA





PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


20% NA NA




PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


45 NA NA




PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER


45 NA NA


OI 2.1. Number of farmers that receive accounting support.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 2.1. Number of farmers that receive accounting support. 140 19 19

The project team conducted one training session on banking and financial literacy for 19 participants (12 males and 7 females) in Y1.


OI 2.2. Number of farmers who receive field-based training and on-farm consultations for operation and maintenance of Netafim systems and associated crop management practices.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 2.2 Number of farmers who receive field-based training and on-farm consultations for operation and maintenance of Netafim systems and associated crop management practices.

99 43 37

Due to the early end of the project, field-based support was limited.

OI 3.1. Number of agriculture priorities identified and supported through the social fund.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 3.1. Number of agriculture priorities identified and supported through the social fund. 13 0 0

Due to the early end of the project, social fund activities did not begin.

OI 3.2. Number of people who benefit from social fund supported priorities.


PROJECT ACTUAL

CURRENT QUARTER

OI 3.2. Number of people who benefit from Social Fund supported priorities. 300 0 0

Due to the early end of the project, social fund activities did not begin.


APPENDIX A: PAWM YEAR 2 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN


APPENDIX B: GEO-MIS

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