i. The report “Bridging Emergency and Development – Medium Term Strategy for FAO Assistance” has been prepared by an FAO team in March/April 2009 following a request from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to develop and institutionalize the relationship between the PNA and FAO through the formulation of an appropriate framework and strategy for FAO assistance to the Palestinian agricultural sector.

ii. The report proposes an FAO Strategy for assisting the Palestinian National Authority, the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and other concerned agricultural sector stakeholders in the transition from emergency to sustainable development. Its main findings and conclusions are based on: i) consultations with Government officials in Ramallah including Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Planning and other Government authorities, national NGOs, FAO field staff in Jerusalem and multilateral and bilateral donors; ii) the work done by FAO on emergency projects; iii) the agricultural sector priorities highlighted in various policy documents including the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP), MoA policy statements and other relevant subsector papers; and iv) the ongoing and planned activities of major multilateral and bilateral donors. Although reference is made in this report to the FAO?s portfolio in food security information, analysis, institution building and coordination, this report mainly focuses on the overall FAO strategy for agricultural sector development.

iii. In the last few years the agricultural sector of Palestine has lost its capacity to contribute effectively to the economic development of the country, for a number of causes. First and foremost the political situation and the restrictions imposed on the movement of people, of trade and marketing in general, the difficult access to land and natural resources, the availability of agricultural inputs and the overall climate of uncertainty which does not provide any incentive for the private sector to invest in agricultural development. And second, structural constraints which are inherent to the way the Palestinian agriculture has developed and that have been compounded by the lack of effective sector strategies that would have provided guidance to the implementation of priority programs, coordinating the activities of government, the private sector and donors.

iv. Most Palestinian products for the domestic markets are not competitive in terms of quality compared to similar products coming from Israel, marketing strategies are still traditional, the problem of irrigation water availability is compounded by weak enforcement of existing laws, and agricultural services - with main reference to extension services - are inadequate to the requirements of the sector. The marginalisation of the Palestinian agricultural sector has had consequences and implications on all aspects of rural people lives and has resulted in continued deterioration of rural infrastructure and a raising poverty rate in the rural areas compared to the urban centers.

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