Union of Agricultural Work Committees

UAWC was established in 1986 in response to the vulnerable socio-political circumstance of farmers that resulted from occupation policies in confiscating lands and water in the early eighties and therefore directly harmed the interests of farmers and Palestinians. The Union was founded as a non-profit organization by a group of volunteers and agronomists. The priorities of the Union at the beginning focused on struggling with the Israeli Occupation's procedures that marginalized agriculture and destroyed the infrastructure of Palestinian agriculture. The Union in its early days depended on volunteers completely, in addition to forming agricultural committees in the WB and GS, to set the priorities of farmers and help the Union in implementing its programs and community activities. In 1991 the Union received its first funding and hired three full time employees, two part time employees, in addition to 15 volunteers. Then the Union started to develop its basic law and its financial and administrative systems while its activities focused on olive oil marketing, agricultural extension and land reclamation. In 1993 the Union developed its organizational structure, consisting of a general assembly, board of trustees, general director, and two executive directors, one in the WB and another in GS, in addition to administrative and financial coordinators, and activities employees. From 1993 to 1997, the Union developed its projects, programs and its working staff members and thus, the number increased to reach 13 male and female employees in the WB and 20 in the GS. By this time the Union's activities focused in this time on reclamation of lands, agricultural extension, marketing and implementing projects to create job opportunities in the agriculture sector. From 1997-2000 the Union developed its organizational structure and built funding relations and partnerships, and its services expanded to reach new villages and communities. There was also an expansion in its activities to include animal breeding and care, education, and managing water resources. At the end of this period, the Union consisted of 29 male and female employees in the WB and 23 in GS. from the beginning of this century and after the deterioration of the economic circumstance of the majority of Palestinians and mainly farmers, a change occurred on the nature of the Union's programs as emergency projects became the bulk of its work. The Union thus worked during this period on projects to create job opportunities and distributing production inputs to farmers, supporting house gardens, house economy, providing drinking water resources for farmers and countryside inhabitants, in addition to programs of distributing aid, and work for food.