Agriculture
Jenin Governorate
On-Line
Crops
The Jenin Governorate is an agricultural area with over 580,000 dunums of fertile, high quality soil that produce considerable harvests. The agricultural sector of the Jenin Governorate contributes 30% of the Palestinian National Income, and supplies work for 25% of the Palestinian population as farmers.
Livestock
The Jenin Governorate raises sufficient quantities of cows, goats, sheep and chickens but due to lack of processing industry these cannot be fully exploited and imports remain necessary to fulfill local demand.
Forests
There are 270,000 dunums of forest in the Jenin Governorate that provide a nice and beautiful scenery. They are labeled as National Parks. Unfortunately most of the forests are located in the 'C'-zone, where the Palestine Authority has limited possibilities. Even though investments in this field might be profitable and feasibility studies should be carried out in this respect.
Problems
Seven main problems confront the exploitation of agriculture in the Jenin Governorate:
1-Irrigation. Only 2% of the fertile land is presently irrigated, whilst the remainder is dependant on rainfall.
2-Processing Industry. Lack of processing industry prevents the exploitation of surplus harvests and livestock resources.
3-Research. The absence of structural agricultural research prevents control and development of production and innovation.
4-Equipment. The Governorate is faced with a lack of modern farming equipment.
5-Infrastructure. Not enough roads are available for transport, and existing roads are often unsuitable for agricultural vehicles.
6-Marketing. Farmers need to get necessary training in both local commerce and export.
7-Storage. Lack of warehouse and cold storage facilities make it impossible to sell surplus production at profitable times.
Required Solutions
Most of the requires solutions immediately derive from the seven main problems sketched above.