MEDJOOL DATES CULTIVATION IN JERICHO: RE-ORGANISATION OF FARMERS’ COOPERATIVE AND IMPLEMENTATION OF QMS

Date palms cultivation in the Palestinian territories exists in the Jordan Valley with around 100 date producers operating in the area of Jericho and Jiftlek. Ac-tually, despite the potential high quality of Palestinian dates of the cultivar Me-djool, the export to Europe still encounters many difficulties. Thus, Palestinian dates, with a step-by-step implementation of standardized procedure, could real-ly improve the quality and faced in front of potential European markets and op-portunities. This action-research took place within the project “Sostegno alla ri-organizzazione produttiva, manageriale e commerciale delle cooperative di dat-teri palestinesi ed egiziani” (AID 10601), implemented by Jean Paul II Founda-tion and funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. Within the project, the reorganisation of the management of the local farmers’ cooperative, as well as the definition of new quality procedures, intend to foster more sustainable behaviour and improve commitment among them. In particular, the aim is to obtain a more sustainable chain, i.e. guaranteeing fair access to fundamental rights and conditions of well-being, within the workers and within the community, providing opportunities to create and develop internal and ex-ternal relations involving the community, and recognizing the added value of this food commodity.