Zaytoun Producer Profile – Haj Rafeeq Hussein
Haj Rafeeq Hussein is a farmer from the ancient village of Ti’innik which is perched high on a terraced hill in Palestine’s West Bank.
At 77 years old, Haj Rafeeq carries a wealth of farming experience and still loves tending to his olive and almond trees, along with annual wheat and sesame crops. Farming is Haj Rafeeq’s full-time job and he draws on the inherited wisdom of his ancestors who have farmed the same land for over 200 years.
However, this traditional knowledge is proving invaluable as him and many other farmers try to adapt to the challenges of climate change.
He uses regenerative farming practices that increases the yields of his organic crops through building soil health and conserving water.
Due to climate change, Haj Rafeeq has seen the productivity of his olive trees suffer due to shifts in the seasonal rain patterns and unusually high temperatures during the summer months. In times of drought, additional watering is needed to support the crop yields.
Many farmers in this area depend on rainfall as water access can be extremely difficult. These farmers are living in an area of Palestine where the Israeli occupation forbids the drilling of new wells and the construction of cisterns to collect rainwater.
Climate change has brought uncertainty to the seasonal rainfall patterns which are crucial to good crops; the relationship that Haj Rafeeq has with Fairtrade customers offers a safety net through connections that go beyond commercial and short-term.
Currently, Haj Rafeeq has 900 trees growing on 75 dunums. The Fairtrade farming that Haj Rafeeeq is apart of makes his and others’ livelihoods much more viable; the price that Haj Rafeeq gets for his olive oil allows for some investment in planting new trees and crops.
Fairtrade premiums has also supported the community that Haj Rafeeq is apart of through the building of a health clinic and providing school facilities proving just how important Fairtrade is.
Fairtrade Fortnight 2021 aims to raise awareness on the challenges that farmers are facing due to the uncertainty that climate change brings. It also aims to highlight and put farmers’ voices at the heart of the climate crisis and share the reality of their struggles.
Zaytoun is a non-profit company established to support marginalised farming communities in Palestine through the production of olive oil and other olive products. The welfare of local farming communities and development of the agricultural infrastructure in Palestine is of the utmost importance to Zaytoun, and as such they operate as a fair trading company, and have recently achieved Fairtrade Certification for a selection of their range.
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