Elayan Abu Arra is a farmer from Aqqaba village on the slopes of the Jordan Valley. He is 62, with nine children, and has been a farmer for 30 years. He originally grew olives, and then 24 years ago he also started growing almonds.
He has 120 dunums (12 hectares) of land planted with almond trees in this fertile region which offers a perfect climate and environment for his trees to flourish. As a member of the Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA) he receives Fairtrade prices for his almonds – that income, and a reliable fruitful crop, make almond growing crucial to his livelihood – and has helped him educate his children, enable four of them to get married, and build them houses.
Farming almonds and olives is labour-intensive and tiring. Elayan works with his family on the groves all year round, and then with 3 or 4 additional workers at harvest time, which usually starts mid to late July and ends in August.
The challenges
Elayan is relatively fortunate that there are no settlements close to his farm – so he does not suffer the same kind of harassment and violence many farmers experience daily from settlers. However, the roads are under the occupation’s control so to get from Aqqaba to Burqin [a distance of 10 miles] you can pass one or two checkpoints. He says, “..most of us here regularly need to go to Jenin or Burqin for example and we get stopped and can lose an entire day just going there for a brief meeting and back.”
Meanwhile, back on the farms, herds of wild pigs are causing problems. If they get on to your land, they eat everything they can reach from the bottom up, destroying everything especially small trees.
The benefits of Fairtrade
He is very clear about the benefits of being a member of Palestine Fair Trade Association. It is not just the reliable income, it is also about their commitment to buy as much as he is willing to sell. In addition the tree planting scheme ‘Trees for Life’ offers the opportunity to plant new saplings.
“For me almonds give me a sense of security. When the trees carry a lot of fruit, I feel confident about the future.”
Right now, income from sales overseas is more crucial than ever. “I thank all British people who love and buy our premium quality Fairtrade products – and I am grateful to all those who enable their export to the UK and Ireland,” says Elayan.
Preserving the land and the environment
Elayan takes his role as a steward of the land very seriously. His farming is organic, free of chemicals, and the trees are not reliant on irrigation, making them a sustainable choice.
“I farm without pesticides or irrigation. Both the olives and almonds rely on rainfall and both can be certified organic as well as Fairtrade.”
As well as preserving nutrition in the soil and keeping his crops pesticide-free, Elayan is keen to ensure that he has sufficient pollinators for all his trees and that means adding beekeeping to the jobs needed during the farming year. He would ideally like to have one beehive per dunum and he sometimes has to rent them if he doesn’t have enough.
“For a good crop, what matters is that the almond blossoms get pollinated by the bees – you don’t want to lose the potential of each tree through lack of pollination.”
At one with the land
The strong connection between Palestinian farmers and their land is palpable when you hear Elayan speak about his groves. As well as detailing the farming year and discussing volumes and income like all farmers, he becomes almost poetic describing his relationship with his farm.
I harvest almonds with my children and family. I enjoy this time. I sit and have tea or coffee, and I rest in the shade of the almond trees and breathe in the fresh air. Often when I leave my house at 5.30am it is still cool and there is a fresh morning breeze and dew on the trees. I love it.
We talked to Elayan in August this year and his last words as we left were:
“I would like to say congratulations to Zaytoun on their 20th anniversary. We as farmers have accompanied them on their journey. And God willing, we will continue to move forward together.“
