APN | Amman
29 July – 5 August 2023
APN participated in the 9th regional summer school organized by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung – Palestine & Jordan, focused on "Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture towards Equitable and Justice-based Food Systems in the MENA Region". The school took place from 29 July to 5 August 2023 in Amman, Jordan.
During the school’s field trip to the Jordan Valley, APN spoke about the environmental and agricultural violations committed by the occupation against Palestinian and Jordanian farmers particularly in the Jordan Valley as part of an old strategy to dismantle the agriculture sector in the valley and displace its farmers. In Palestine, the occupation systematically uproots trees, prevents Palestinians from accessing their lands, and then illegally confiscates fallow lands, in addition to routinely poisoning Palestinian water and soil. While in Jordan, the occupation deliberately ignites fires in agricultural lands in the Jordan Valley each year, in addition to controlling and stealing Jordan’s vital water resources.
During the intervention, APN highlighted the achievements of its programmes, the Million Tree Campaign in Palestine and the Green Caravan in Jordan. Both programmes provide smallholder farmers with fruit-bearing trees to enhance food security and to open up an avenue for an additional and sustainable source of income. Moreover, the programmes seek to reinvigorate the farming culture in Jordan and Palestine and revive the connection of local communities with their land, particularly in an effort to prevent selling off or losing fertile agricultural land. Since their launch, APN has managed to plant over 2.8 fruit trees that support over 250,000 small farmers and their family members.
