Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC)
College students studying agronomy at the PARC Institute in Jericho.
The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) was founded in 1983 by agronomists and veterinarians in order to serve farmers in the agricultural sector in the West Bank. PARC was created ten years before the Palestinian Authority established the Ministry of Agriculture in the West Bank, so it's viewed by many as the first Palestinian Department of Agriculture. When Equal Exchange started our partnership in 2011, we didn't fully comprehend how broad PARC's mission and vision were. From inception, PARC's mission was formed to create strategies that would allow Palestinian farmers to succeed: to bring economic development to the West Bank and Gaza, to provide food for the larger population in the West Bank, and to transfer technical skills to agronomists. It also provides a wide range of services for producers, women, youth, and other community groups.
PARC and its exporting arm Al Reef provides agricultural training to 41 co-ops — each with 20-80 members — in such areas as fertilization, harvesting of crops, water treatment systems, storage facilities, quality control testing of agricultural products, financing, marketing, packaging and shipping, and exportation. It has helped to build a range of community-based organizations and cooperatives based upon principles of democratic participation, transparency, and accountability. It runs agricultural schools for up-and-coming agronomists.
Equal Exchange has traveled to the West Bank twice to meet the staff of PARC and its importing arm, Al Reef, in 2011 and 2017. Both times we met PARC directors and staff. We were introduced to dozens of producers and folks who ran and maintained olive oil presses; packers at a date processing facility; members of a women's handmade couscous (or maftoul) factory, and many others. All of the operations we toured were professional and impressive. After three decades. PARC continues to be an invaluable resource and support to producers in the West Bank and Gazan agricultural sectors.
We are proud to offer two products from PARC: bottles of organic extra virgin olive oil, and Medjool dates. Learn more about the story behind these products.
