Ahmed is a father of six whose income in based on farming crops including Medjoul dates and vegetables. He inherited 27 dunums (roughly 2.7 hectares) of land from his family, who have cultivated it for generations. About 15 years ago he began to grow date palms there and now has around 45 trees.
He views agriculture as a growing sector in the Jordan Valley and says that the area needs to be protected and supported by ethical businesses. Ahmed sees fair trade as key to improving the livelihood of the farmers in the Jordan Valley, to empower them to remain on their land and protect them from potential confiscations by the occupation.
‘’We need to establish sustainable farming and markets for the coming generation. Fair trade gives us the opportunity to achieve that’’.