4% Zaytoun

It is very exciting to be able to support a project we are so directly linked to. Zaytoun (Arabic for Olives) is a UK-based not for profit project, established in 2004, to import olive oil from Palestinian farmers at fair trade prices, and the end product has been sold at Unicorn since 2005.

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 theWest Bank and Gaza Strip, but farmers bringing in theharvest 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 works in partnership with Al-Zaytouna, a Palestinian NGO (non governmental organisation), to build cooperatives for marginalized farmers, reducing costs of production and strengthening farmers in numbers. We have been able to donate £3,000 towards training members of these new co-operatives, and hope to be able to help further in the future.