“Agro-Resistance” in Palestine

For years, Israel has been trying to drive Palestinian farmers off their land by restricting agriculture. Canaan Fair Trade is a farming project, that wants to support local small-hold farmers by helping to grow resistant organic crops, buying products to above market prices and finding markets for the produce.

Because the olive tree is as a symbol deeply rooted in Palistinian identity and tradition, Canaan Fair Trade presently focuses on olive oil, but has now expanded to other fair-trade products such as almonds, olive paste and sun-dried tomatoes. Jonathan Cook states, the idea for Canaan Fair Trade came to Nasser Abufarha as he recognized how much Americans are willing to pay for organic and fair-trade products.

The company has become the largest fair-trade business in the Middle East and the largest fair-trade supplier of olive oil in the world. Its clients include Ben and Jerry’s, Dr. Bronner’s as well as Whole Foods and Sainsbury’s.