Zaytoun Olive Oil - Fairtrade Palestinian Olive Oil

Zaytoun (Arabic for Olives) is a UK-based not for profit project to import olive oil from Palestinian farmers at fair trade prices. It was established in early 2004 by four activists as a trade justice initiative with the aim of giving Palestinian farmers access to international markets, while buying from cooperatives and investing profits back into the community.

In 2004, with the funds & support of people from a diverse range of backgrounds including Jewish, Muslim, Christian, secular as well as many organisations, we imported & sold 15,000 litre's of Palestinian olive oil. With your continuing support, in 2005 Zaytoun aims to import & sell 45,000 litres of Palestinian olive oil. Zaytoun works with volunteers so 100% of any funding will go to Palestine

Why Olive Oil?

The Israeli occupation has devastated the Palestinian economy, including the olive oil dominated agricultural sector which supports over 65% of the Palestinian people. While 75% of Palestinians now live in poverty, over half of the olive oil produced in Palestine is currently thrown away due to the restrictions imposed by the Isreali occupation of the land, and a lack of access to international markets. Olive trees are grown on over 80% of the cultivated land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but farmers bringing in the harvest face severe difficulties arising from military closure of the land and violence from illegal settlers. Even so, Palestinians continue to harvest their crops, as otherwise under Israeli law unfarmed land is confiscated by the state.

Zaytoun is working to build cooperatives for marginalized farmers, reducing costs of production and strengthening farmers in numbers. Visit the Zaytoun website.
 

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