Final NARRATIVE REPORT Strengthening Livestock Holders

The European Union’s 2012 Food Security Programme in the occupied Palestinian territory;

Livestock based Livelihood Support Programme – field level component – (LbL-f)"

Final NARRATIVE REPORT

Strengthening Livestock Holders’ Livelihoods in Area C (Rawasi)

CARE Austria/ CARE West Bank and Gaza in cooperation with Palestinian Agriculture Relief Committee (PARC), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)

Grant Number: DCI-FOOD/2013/ 321- 192

Project period: 01.11.2013 - 31.10.2015

Reporting period: 01.11.2013 - 29.02.2016

This project is funded by The European Union and the Austrian Development Cooperation A project implemented by CARE, ICARDA and PARC

FINAL NARRATIVE REPORT

Description & Preamble

1.1. Name of beneficiary of grant contract: CARE Austria 1.2. Name and title of the Contact person: Ms. Hiba Tibi (Project Manager, CARE West Bank and Gaza), Judit Kontseková (Program Officer, CARE Austria) 1.3. Name of partners in the Action: Palestinian Agriculture Relief Committee (PARC), International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) 1.4. Title of the Action: Strengthening Livestock Holders’ Livelihoods in Area C (Rawasi) 1.5. Contract number: CARE Rawasi NEAR0-TS 2013/ 321-192 1.6. Start date and end date of the reporting period: 01.11.2013 - 28.02.2016 1.7. Target country(ies) or region(s):The occupied Palestinian territory in vulnerable 30 locations in Area C -5 central and northern West Bank districts: North East Jerusalem, East Ramallah, Jericho, East Nablus & Tubas (Center and North Jordan Valley) 1.8. Final beneficiaries: 2000 sheep and goat holder households in 30 locations in Northern and Central areas in West Bank particularly Area C; 12,000 (individuals and members of 17 CBOs), and all livestock holders in target locations in general. Target groups1: 17 community based organizations (CBOs) serving 12,000 people (50 % female); 3 small/medium enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises. Indirect beneficiaries: total individuals reached: 12,500. 1.9. Countries in which the activities take place (if different from 1.7): idem/as per 1.7

Preamble

This document represents the final report for Rawasi Project. It builds on the interim report submitted to the European Commission Delegation in Jerusalem on early 2015. It is composed of two main sections: Section 1: Narrative report; Section 2: financial and audit report. Attached to the narrative report there is a list of annexes that provide additional data on Rawasi project (technical aligned with narrative content & administrative related to EU requirements: transfer of assets).

1 Target groups” are the groups/entities who will be directly positively affected by the project at the Project Purpose level, and “final beneficiaries” are those who will benefit from the project in the long term at the level of the society or sector at large.

List of Acronyms

ADC Austrian Development Cooperation AIDA Association of International Development Agencies CBOs Community Based Organizations DAI Development Alternatives Incorporated ECD European Commission Delegation ER Expected Results FAO Food and Agriculture Organization ICARDA International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas JLAC Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center LbL Livestock based Livelihood MoU Memorandum of Understanding MoA Ministry of Agriculture MoL Ministry of Labour MoE Ministry of Economy MSA Market System Assessment M&E Monitoring and Evaluation NARC National Agricultural Research Centre NCE No Cost Extension NRC Norwegian Refugee Council OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs PARC Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee PCBS Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics PLDC Palestinian Livestock Development Center PMDP Palestinian Market Development Program PSI Palestine Standard Institute SMEs Small and Medium Enterprises UAWC Union of Agricultural Work Committees VC Value Chain WGs Women Groups

Table of Content

1. Description 2 2. Assessment of implemented action activities 5 2.1. Executive summary of the action 5 2.2. Activities & Results 6 2.2.1.Activities under expected result 1 9 Activity 1.1. Demonstration sites for water harvesting and fodder production 10 Activity 1.2. Tailor made training program on water, grazing land and fodder management 15 Activity 1.3. construction, provision and rehabilitation of water infrastructure 17 Activity 1.4. provision of high yielding forage seeds 20 Activity 1.5. construction and rehabilitation of agricultural roads 21 Activity 1.6. Develop and implement evidence based advocacy plan 22 2.2.2.Activities under expected result 2 25 Activity 2.1. Improve management capacity of 17 CBOs 26 Activity 2.2. Tailor made program on farm management , animal husbandry and processing 27 Activity 2.3. Support productivity of animal husbandry 28 Activity 2.4. Facilitate access of CBOs to public and private veterinary service 31 Activity 2.5. Establish two model school farms 31 2.2.3.Activities under expected result 3 33 Activity 3.1. Conduct market system assessment 33 Activity 3.2 Design business plans for high potential CBOs and SMEs 36 Activity 3.3. design tailor made capacity building packages 37 Activity 3.5. Strengthening capacities of women’s producers groups 37 2.3. Assessment of overall implementation of activities 39 2.4. Assessment of the results 2.5. Updated action plan 46 3. Partners and other cooperation 49

3.1. Relations with formal partners 49 3.2. Relations with State Authorities 49 3.3. Relations with other organizations 50 3.4. Links and synergies with other actions 51 3. Visibility 51

List of Annexes

Annex I Human Interest Stories Annex II Video Documentation Annex III Sample of Silage Brochure Annex IV External Final Evaluation Report Annex V Article in the Austrian Wiener Zeitung Annex VI Article in the Austrian Tiroler Tageszeitung Annex VII Transfer of Assets

Assessment of implementation of Action activities

2.1 Executive summary of the Action This report documents the achievements in the livestock sector in Palestine by the EC-funded intervention called ‘Strengthening Livestock Holders’ Livelihoods in Area C’ (Rawasi Project). Rawasi was funded by the European Commission under the Livestock Based Livelihood Program (LbL). This two-year project was launched in October 2013 and aimed to strengthening the resilience and increase income of sheep and goat holders in 30 locations (mostly located in Area C of the West Bank), with a specific focus on women and Bedouins. The implementation was led by CARE and partners PARC and ICARDA. In total the project worked with more than 2,000 smallholders2 of sheep and goats (among which 990 women), 17 Community Based Organizations (CBO’s) serving 12,500 indirect beneficiaries and 3 SME’s (production groups and cooperatives) and other private sector actors, among them 10 women cooperatives.

The program has aimed to improve the livelihood and security of vulnerable Palestinians via implementing sustainable and market-oriented economic empowerment opportunities to bring about the highest and the most meaningful impact for vulnerable Palestinians. Rawasi has introduced replicable, innovative solutions to mitigate different challenges and constrains that Palestinian livestock holders are facing. The project was implemented through an integrated market oriented approach that linked farmers, including women, with CBOs, and linked targeted communities with different stakeholders, including cooperatives, governmental actors and businesses. Rawasi also worked to strengthen the role of CBOs through capacity building that meets their organizational needs and following a market-orientated approach. Rawasi’s specific Expected Results (ER) were as follows; 1) Male and female livestock holders and CBOs have improved access to and management of water, grazing land, and fodder, 2) Male and female livestock holders have enhanced health, quality and productivity of their livestock and improved links to extension services, 3) Male and female livestock holders have better returns from increasing the value-added of their products.

Taking a look at the context, Palestine knows around 21,000 smallholders of sheep and goats who provide 35% of the total (including cow’s) milk production and 65% of all red meat production. In most rural areas livestock generates a high percentage of the annual cash income for families. The total population in all Rawasi targeted communities is around 20,000 households and 2,000 small scale livestock holders on a total land area of almost one million dunums. It was estimated that the total number of sheep and goat in these target areas is around 135,000 heads which means the project reaches about 14% of the total sheep and goat population in Palestine. While the Palestinian agro-food industry has evolved in the recent years into a sector with one of the highest profit margins, many of these smallholders are unable to benefit from this development. This partly stems from low productivity. The average milk production per head is between 0.8 and 1.5 liter per day for the lactation period of 120-180 days on average, which is not high compared to other countries. But market assessments done in the first phase of the Rawasi project revealed a more complex set of challenges for Palestinian smallholders.

From the analysis of the supply and demand side of goat and sheep dairy products, a set of obstacles can be clearly distinguished that stand in the way of smallholders to reach their full potential. Starting at the farmers level, they are faced with high cost, low quality, limited knowledge and no use of local available materials when it comes to fodder for animals. There is a limited availability of efficient extension services and low access to and high costs of veterinary services. Most farmers have weak market knowledge or interaction in order to anticipate, diversify and jump into market opportunities. Resulting, most small dairy farmers have a small profit margin, also related to underdeveloped processing practice with a need for knowledge and equipment to reach higher and sustainable quality.

2 More than 8000 farmers benefited from services targeting increase in forage production.

Overall, there is limited access to credit for farmers and SMEs and very limited capacities of SMEs like CBOs and cooperatives to productively connect to markets. At the macro-level it is clear that there is very limited sector-specific infrastructure like a full cold chain, milk collection centers and refrigerated transport and under-developed infrastructure (road, water, electricity) and weak supportive policy and legal framework.

Following a Value Chain approach, the project has holistically worked on the three main sources of obstacles for farmers; inputs, production process and access to markets. The main tools applied during all activities were market-orientated development, innovative and ecologically sound agricultural practices, holistic capacity building, networking and actively enhancing gender specific opportunities. Overall, this had led to significant accomplishments in the short time span of the project. - Applying a Value Chain approach resulted in a deep understanding of the Dairy Value Chain (which was widely shared with all stakeholders and actors in the region, including the MoA) and in its holistic contributions to the whole livestock sector. Looking for ways to improve the position of vulnerable farmers in the value chain, as well as strengthening the value chain as a whole was evidence-based and made use of innovative practices. - Strengthening and initiating partnerships in the dairy sector value chain gave a lasting improvement, both by connecting new actors and building the capacity of selected already established actors (CBO’s, SMEs and cooperatives). Working together with local partners PARC and ICARDA, many local CBOs, governmental actors and research institutes, proved to be a very valuable way of working method that creates multilayered synergies; local structures are further enhanced and will serve as strong actors that will take community development beyond the project time. - Synergies were built with other projects working under the Livestock based Livelihood institutional and field programs (LbL – f and LbL- I), other relevant programs funded by EU (e.g. through Oxfam Italia) and other donors (through livestock coordination cluster) working in the same targeted locations, all to ensure maximum objectives attainment through complementarity, avoiding of duplication and facilitate shared learning.

The first ER addressed the weak and costly access of farmers to key inputs water, grazing land and fodder. Under this ER a combination of material support, innovative production inputs techniques, training and advocacy was implemented at different levels. Achieved progress reached 100% of activities implementation and the activities were able to include more farmers and dunums than originally proposed. Please refer for detailed results to page 40 of the report. The second ER specifically improved the obstacles in the livestock’s productivity, dealing with livestock health, quality and farm management. All of the planned activities were finalized targeting both the livestock holders and selected CBO’s. Most importantly, farmers have increased their access to veterinarian services through stronger CBO’s and diversified and increased their dairy processing, due to their improved knowledge, skills and willingness to collectively apply new processing techniques. Please refer for detailed results to page 42 of the report. Lastly the third ER worked on closing the circle, namely better access to markets and a higher profit margin for the local farmer. Due to the undertaken activities in the field of assessments, value chain inputs and tailor-made capacity building, famers and their CBO’s had better access to market information, helping them to respond to market opportunities. Also the seven selected SME’s (among them 3 CBO’s and 2 women cooperatives) had increased return on their production due to improved marketing and production process. Please refer for detailed results to page 44 of the report.

Below is a summary of selected attainments under Rawasi ERs:  The total of 330 households (with flock size of 91,433) have consistent and affordable access to water, due to the rehabilitation and construction of water resources infrastructure. The total size of water storage volume is 12,021 M3. The size of savings of water expenditures due to gathered water using different catchment techniques is 84,130 NIS.

 The total of 11,050 animal heads were provided with new grazing lands. Total increase in grazing days reached 50% (average from 70 days before project reaching 105 days after the project when counting additional surface planted by the project).  8,949 beneficiaries (owning 12,344 heads of sheep and goat) were supported to grow their animal feed. The total of produced fodder in tons reached 13,349.1 tons. New varieties introduced were not only marked with high productivity, but also with the potential to re-use them in coming seasons.  The total of 1062 beneficiaries improved their access to public and private veterinary services. 450 farmers rehabilitated their barns and improved their barn management animal husbandry practices through extension team of the project and trained leader farmers from their CBOs. The total of heads reached through this activity is 97,036 (around 22% of the total livestock in the area).  Dairy production at farm level was increased due to two reasons: 1) increasing lactation days (through techniques that were disseminated to farmers); 2) due to decreasing losses while collecting and processing the milk (wasted milk/ spoiled milk was decreased by 2-5% in the locations); and, 3) decrease in mortality rates (for both abortion and post natal death- by almost 11.5%).  3 sustainable market partnerships were established between CBOs and SMEs with 10% to 20% increase in profit for farmers (500 farmers are linked to the 7 selected CBOs and SMEs).  10 female business groups were supported to develop their business plans and initiate their dairy businesses.

Several tools were built into the project activities (capacity building, CBO strengthening, feasible innovations) to ensure sustainability of project activities after project phased out, with an eye on economic, social and environmental aspects. Gender dynamics have been a key topic in the market assessments and at all stages of the project gender specific opportunities have been sought and acted upon. Important achievements have been reached with the training and organization of female dairy producers, while the selected women have served as an example and role model in their community, who have shared their knowledge and skills on several occasions. Comprehensive Monitoring & Evaluation has facilitated responsive project management as well as the opportunity to distillate lessons learned over the course of the project. The most important lessons learned are discussed in full in this report (starting page 52) and are highly valuable for future programming.

2.2 Activities and results

2.2.1. Activities for expected result 1: male and female livestock holders and CBOs have improved access to and management of water, grazing land, and fodder

The activities under Expected Result 1 were all aimed at improving the access to and management of water, grazing land and fodder for individual farmers and targeted CBOs. Under this ER a combination of material support, innovative production inputs techniques, training and advocacy was implemented at the different levels. Achieved progress reached 100% of activities implementation.

All activities undertaken under this ER were scientifically based and firmly adapted to the local situation. This does not apply only to the climate/environmental conditions, but also to the challenges resulting from conflict and occupation. An important approach taken in Rawasi is the use of these tested innovative techniques in mitigating key challenges and the employment of demonstration fields to ensure dissemination among the livestock holders. Special attention was hereby given to the inclusion of female livestock holders.

In close cooperation with 17 CBOs demonstration field days and training sessions had been organized with regard to fodder production, water harvesting, conservation agriculture and alternative fodder crops. Besides; the training of three pioneers per selected CBO further contributed to disseminating the new techniques. Moreover, exchange visits were also facilitated to ensure that CBOs are successfully acting as socio-economic learning hubs to spread innovative practices.

The constraining factor for smallholders of high costs and unsustainable availability of crucial inputs like water and fodder, has been directly addressed through rehabilitation and installation of water systems (including collection cisterns, micro catchments, tanks for transport and water pipelines), distribution of new seed types (accompanied by training and result comparison to encourage sustainable improvements in farm management) and the improvement of agricultural roads.

Added to this, specific advocacy activities were implemented to ensure that better access to crucial resources is supported by the surrounding enabling environment. Rawasi consultations and research has strengthened the advocacy capacity of individual farmers, CBOs and other active organizations as well use Rawasi team’s linkages at national and international level to contribute to the awareness raising of obstacles for smallholders in reaching and sustainably using natural resources to support their livelihood.

Activity 1.1 Establishment of demonstration sites for water harvesting and fodder production The consortium’s previous experience has shown that demonstration sites are an effective peer to peer training tool. In this way, livestock holders are provided with the opportunity to directly observe and practice new techniques and experience their benefits for production. Most importantly, they do not have to experiment with their own limited resources and are provided with the chance to see and assess pilot results that would allow them to decide on the efficiency of promoted techniques and pilots in a participatory manner. Moreover, participatory piloting method helps in establishing leading technical experts in the CBOs who in turn are providing advice and support to other livestock holders. In particular, female members of CBOs were encouraged to participate and take the lead in demonstration activities, given their already important role in water management and fodder production. When executing these activities, special consideration is placed on the accessibility of the demonstration sites for women and appropriate timing of the demonstration activities.

1.1.1. Selection of demonstration sites for water harvesting and fodder production PARC and ICARDA worked with the 17 CBOs to select suitable areas/ locations for water harvesting and fodder production demonstration sites. The selection process was based on the following criteria:

 Topographical suitability of area,  Accessibility of demonstration sites, in particular for women,  Proximity to Israeli settlements and Israel Defence Force training area,  Management of demonstration sites,  Distribution of demonstration sites within project area.

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was achieved where 42 demonstration sites were selected in the project area (10 micro catchment water harvesting systems, 20 demonstrations on conservation agriculture, two hydroponic pilot stations, 10 demonstrations on crop residues and agricultural by-products).

1.1.2. Demonstration of micro catchment water harvesting systems The availability of water is the most important constraining factor of forage crop growth in arid and semi-arid areas such as the project area. Its limited availability can be further aggravated in areas where vegetation removal and alteration of the surface soil limit surface water retention and infiltration into the soil. Micro catchment water harvesting systems are specially contoured areas which directly channel precipitation runoff to forage crops, increasing the available amount of water and reducing evaporation.

Primary locations’ selection criteria were: rainfall (climate) and water resources, topography of area, soil type and depth, vegetation, indigenous practices by residents/farmers, accessibilities, acceptability, socio-economic dimension of farmers in area and integrated approaches. Final selection of most appropriate systems was made in partnership with CBO staking into account the indigenous practices by residents/farmers, accessibilities, acceptability, socio-economic dimension of farmers in area, all in an integrated approach involving plant, animal, and water specialists.

Based on preliminary assessments, ICARDA provided two days training courses in all locations on system designs that suite the topological areas, scientific techniques required to determine the proper system, usage of GIS tools and adaptation techniques to the local conditions in particular precipitation, soil quality, size and depth of forage crop planting basins into account. Recurrent visits were made to the pre-selected areas in order to introduce the characteristics of selected designs for the different systems and to agree with the owners on how communities will benefit from the systems in a collective manner.

25 farmers, livestock holders, agronomists from MoA and researchers from NARC participated in the training courses. Field sessions were also organized to train the farmers on various technical issues to facilitate implementation of the water harvesting and soil conservation interventions. Combinations of different water harvesting techniques were implemented at each of the locations to maximise the benefit of rainwater (including the following techniques: eyebrow terraces, contour bench terraces, contour bunds and ridges, scattered trees planted in soil pockets, semi-circular bunds, meskat, settling land and cisterns). The designs of the water harvesting systems were identified according to set of criteria’s including: rainfall, land slope, soil depth, soil type, catchment area, stone and many others.

In a full participatory manner and as part of the community level capacity building all preparation, implementation and follow up steps were fully coordinated with farmers and CBOs representatives making sure that they are aware of needed tools/ equipment/ quantities/ implementation steps/ etc. This ensures that communities are aware of the preparations required for future implementation of similar activities; starting from the selection of the area and ending with the implementation of the designs.

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was fully achieved where 10 micro catchments completed in five locations as follows: 2 sites in Ibziq, 2 sites in Attuf, 2 sites in Al-Marajat, 2 sites in Almughayyer, 2 sites in An-Nassarya.

1.1.3. Demonstration of conservation agriculture (fodder production) Conservation agriculture is a set of soil management practices that minimize the disruption of the soil’s structure, composition, humidity and natural biodiversity. The new technology was introduced to adapt, demonstrate and promote Zero Tillage s packages for soil and moisture conservation that improve crop productivity and crop tolerant to drought conditions.

Work on this activity took two parallel actions as follows: 1. Identification of most suitable locations to be carefully monitored by the 17 CBOs and their members. The selection was carried out very carefully as the technique implies working on machine usage but also adopting a combination of actions that require high commitment from the beneficiaries. This includes: maintaining permanent or semi-permanent soil cover, minimum soil disturbance, regular crop rotations, integrated disease and pest management, utilisation of green manures and cover crops. The total number of farmers who were directly involved in the implementation of the pilots is 39.

2. Identification of high professional, committed and local workshops that are willing and capable of producing new models of seeders that are adopted to conservation agriculture and Zero Tillage techniques. A Palestinian workshop was selected and trained by ICARDA team in Jordan to produce the tested prototypes (intellectual property rights owned by ICARDA who provided authorization to generate this Palestinian made copy of the conservation agriculture machine). As a pilot step; the workshop worked on transferring already existing machine from MoA; where they only contributed to the new pieces related to zero tillage. This machine was tested in different communities and based on its success, the workshop decided to create a brand new machine. It is worth mentioning that this workshop was even able to introduce new more efficient prototype that integrated more effective seeds planting techniques (controlling the quantities of seeds used per dunum).

After obtaining the machines (conservation agriculture seeders); training courses were conducted in Jenin for 80 men and women farmers, five agronomists from MoA, in addition to team at PARC. The training was given by ICARDA international scientists who created the technique ( Dr Stephen Loss, Dr Jacky Desbiolles) on use of the zero-till seeders in planting, seeding rate, seed depth, fertilization and weed control.

Each of the demonstration sites was of one hectare, half of it applying conservation agriculture practices recommended by ICARDA, and the other half applying livestock holders’ conventional practices. This allowed livestock holders to compare results on the same soil and with use of the same seeds (which was provided by Activity 1.4). Assessments carried out on the 20 piloted locations showed that conservation agriculture contributed to the following:

 Water use efficiency: forage crops require significantly less water due to increased infiltration and enhanced water holding capacity from crop residues left on the soil surface. Mulches also protect the soil surface from extreme temperatures and greatly reduce surface evaporation, which is particularly important in arid and semi-arid areas such as the project area.  Enhanced nutrients: conservation agriculture improves soil structure and protects the soil against erosion and nutrient losses by maintaining a permanent soil cover and minimising soil disturbance. This of course has direct impact on increasing soil fertility that undoubtedly reflects in quantitative and qualitative enhancement to forage yield.  Reduced costs related to more efficient seeds usage per dunum.

During the reporting period; 100 % of Rawasi target was achieved where 20 hectares were planted providing 20 conservation agriculture machines and demonstration techniques that were planted with forage drought tolerant seeds in Jenin (Jalboun, Raba, Faqua’a), Tubas (Ibziq, Attuf), Nablus (An- Nasaryah, Beit Furik, Furush Beit Dajan), and Jericho (Al-Jiftlik, Al-Duke).

1.1.4. Build two hydroponic pilot stations Intensive fodder production through hydroponic technology is a well-known practice internationally but has yet to be efficiently introduced and disseminated in the West Bank. Prior to starting the selection of the locations and as part of the designing process of the units, Rawasi team has gathered detailed technical information on the existing hydroponic stations in Palestine. Moreover ICARDA has provided new generation techniques related to hydroponic that are more efficient in electricity and water usage and labour force needed.

Based on the results of the assessments, and building on innovative techniques provided by ICARDA, Rawasi team carried out consultations with: 1) specialized academic experts, 2) private sector who developed existing but formerly not yet completely efficient models, 3) representatives of MoA, 4) LbL –i/f supported project partners (mainly with FAO and UAWC), and, 5) owners of the existing hydroponic stations throughout West bank.

As a result, Rawasi adopted all lessons learned and recommendations suitable for Palestinian context generating advanced hydroponic stations - second generation hydroponic technique (more efficient in terms of water, atomization of the follow up and electricity usage control).

In coordination with Khodoury University, a monitoring program was designed with the two selected CBOs that are running the field school farms. This monitoring program included steps to measure the results and efficiency of the second generation hydroponic technique. It was also linked to the capacity building program carried out for the livestock holders in the target communities close to the model livestock field school farms. All results were documented and shared with different actors.

During the reporting period; 100 % of Rawasi target was achieved as two hydroponic stations locations were selected, designs were finalised and installed, cement base was established, seeds were purchased in both Tubas and Beit Furik.

1.1.5. Demonstration of crop residues and agricultural by-products as alternative fodder sources This activity aims to increase the utilisation of alternative feed resources to relieve pressure on grazing lands, reduce costs of feeding and improve animal nutrition. Project partners have developed descriptions of production types of alternative fodder techniques with the aim to broaden the choices of production.

Prior to the implementation of the activity, Rawasi team met with MoA to carry out mini-assessments on the availability/seasonality/feasibility and source of agricultural by-products and residues to be used in the production of alternative fodder. The assessment showed that these techniques are feasible and can be easily adopted by the farmers if they use simple replicable steps.

Based on the carried out assessment with different actors including MoA, Rawasi adopted two alternative fodder techniques: manufacturing feed blocks and silage processing. ICARDA provided capacity building for selected team members who were trained on the most effective mixtures of alternative feed (silage and blocks) that would have direct impact on milk production.

Rawasi team started with the implementation of silage demonstrations in coordination with MoA who is contributing to this activity through offering their chopping and pressing machines to silage- demonstrations. The total of 10 demonstrations (2 feed block and 8 silage) were carried out with active

12 participation of 70 leader livestock farmers who were trained and coached by project team on collecting crop residues and other agricultural by-products. They also learned how to prepare, process, use and store alternative fodder (please refer to Activity 1.2.1). The total of 12.7 tons were produced in Jericho (Bardala, Aljeftlik & Duke), Nablus (An-Nassariya, Frush beit Dajan & Beit Furik), Tubas (Aqaba, Maleh & Tubas) and distributed to 225 beneficiaries.

A monitoring program was developed by ICARDA scientists to assess the economic benefit of the alternative fodder through reduction of cost of fodder and on the level of the quality and quantity of produced milk and meat.

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was achieved as all 10 silage & feed blocks demonstrations were completed in 10 locations.

Activity 1.2. Implement tailor made training program on water management, grazing land management and fodder production

One of the main methodologies of Rawasi project is to build the capacities of livestock holders’ and their CBOs to play a key role in helping their communities better manage and access existing resources, improve their socio-economic role focusing on production and successfully marketing their products. Capacity building activities follow Rawasi project eco-system approach with livestock holders connecting them to tailor made, innovative and gender sensitive partnerships (with their community/CBOs and with the private sector).

Capacity building activities are designed in a way that encourages local ownership and sustainability of Rawasi different components, where the focus is on innovation modules based on the needs of the CBOs. Capacity building techniques combine both visible knowledge through piloting on site replicable activities (on the job-training) and applied training techniques (i.e. model farms and demonstration plots) to allow for easy reproduction and reduce social obstacles in the training environment. Moreover Rawasi facilitates farmer to farmer learning with regular follow-up, cross- visits and the demonstrated effects of working together through a cooperative model.

1.2.1. Training courses for representatives of 17 CBOs Based on the primary capacity and needs assessment carried out under baseline assessment, Rawasi team designed a tailor made training programme on water management, grazing land management and fodder production (integrating resilience against climate change as a cross cutting theme in all modules).

As planned, the training program followed a gradual peer to peer approach as three leading livestock holders from each of the 17 CBOs (51 in total) were selected to participate in the trainings. The selection was based on criteria that included particular participation of women and willingness and ability to share knowledge and experience.

The training sessions accompanied the implementation of the different pilots and applied a mix of in- field presentations and small group discussions which facilitate knowledge sharing and learning among the participants. The participants observe, test and practice the new techniques in the demonstration sites (section 2.2.1. page 7).

51 trained leading livestock holders from 17 CBOs were trained and are able to disseminate knowledge on new techniques on the following topics:

 water management: e.g. using and maintaining micro catchment rainwater harvesting systems, collectively managing water harvesting systems, conflict resolution, hygiene and health of livestock,

 grazing land management: e.g. negotiating access to grazing land, developing grazing schedules, maintaining grazing lands,  fodder production: e.g. using crop residues and agricultural by-products as alternative fodder, applying hydroponic techniques for intensive fodder production, and applying conservation agriculture techniques for fodder production.

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was achieved through the implementation of more than 30 training sessions that were implemented as per progress of the different activities, training materials were gathered and disseminated to target CBOs gradually and throughout the project. Trained 51 farmer leaders are now recognized as focal points at community level.

1.2.2. Organise exchange and learning meetings between 17 CBOs In order to enhance linkages among CBOs as well as between CBOs and other organisations active in Area C, Rawasi started facilitation of the learning exchange visits between the 17 CBOs. Based on the consortium’s experience, bringing together different members of different CBOs in an otherwise fragmented project area, help in establishing greater solidarity, trust and understanding. End of project assessments of exchange visit showed a great impact on raising awareness of new techniques, increasing adoption rate of good agricultural practices, and building linkages (also private sector VET/fodder, Ministry, CBOs).

Exchange visit activities were connected to the establishment of demonstration sites and innovative techniques under Rawasi including those for: fodder production, women groups activities, enhanced breeds rams management, water management tools (water distribution points), and conservation agriculture (seeds, fertilizer, construction), for rehabilitation of water infrastructure (metallic pools, cisterns, tanks), the hygienic milk collection system (recipients, milking machines etc.), upgrading of barn management and animal husbandry (tags, logbooks), dairy units established at selected CBOs/social enterprises/SMEs as well as with the field school farms (construction, production infrastructure).

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was achieved where 51 learning exchange visits were carried out (average of 3 visits per CBO). Fewer exchange visits were co-implemented in first year in parallel to alternative fodder production and water harvesting techniques. These activities were intensified during second year and in accordance with the maturity and level of implementation of the different demonstrations and pilots.

Activity 1.3.Construction, provision and rehabilitation of water resource infrastructure In the West Bank, water resources are fully controlled by Israeli authorities and regulated through the Joint Water Committee. The existing water network infrastructure is in urgent need of repair. About 30-40% of water is lost due to of leakage, bad management or unsuitable water transporting pipes.

In the absence of good water network connection West Bank, rainwater harvesting techniques are considered one of the main sources to the livelihoods of livestock holder communities (used for livestock, agriculture and even for domestic uses). The situation is worse in Area C as many water resources have not been repaired or constructed for years because of the resistance of the Israeli Civil Administration (who decline to issue rehabilitation/construction permits and are repeatedly demolishing these “illegally” built infrastructures).

Under this activity Rawasi provided livestock holders with different water resource infrastructure that would allow them better harvest, efficiently use, and manage scarce water resources. This includes rainwater harvesting catchments and cisterns, provision of cement or metallic pools, provision of trailered metallic water tanks, and water distribution points. These water sources successfully contributed to:

 Ensure reliable and affordable supply of water for livestock and agriculture, particularly during dry season,  Reduce soil erosion by impounding rainwater runoff,  Enable cultivation of forage crops on larger plots.

1.3.1. Rehabilitation and construction of rainwater harvesting cisterns Primary assessment by project team showed that there are huge numbers of existing old in-field cisterns in need for rehabilitation. These cisterns are of huge capacity, over 250 square meters in average. Therefore, the priority was give first to rehabilitation rather than construction unless the construction would improve access for community members collectively.

Activity questionnaires was formulated in cooperation with Sulalah project (funded by EU under LbL –f) and was distributed to targeted CBOs in order to ensure their involvement in the selection and in the follow up of the water related activities. A set of selection criteria was defined and shared with the CBOs, who did the first filtering of received applications. Selection criteria included:  Number of benefiting livestock holders and size of their flocks,  Women livestock owners or women headed households,  Topography and rainfall,  Intended usage – including purposes for livestock and agriculture, particularly during dry season.

The second round of filtering process was through field visits to verify the technical data of questionnaires of candidate beneficiaries.

During the reporting period; 100% of Rawasi target was achieved where 50 cisterns were rehabilitated & constructed in 16 locations (Raba, Faqua, Tubas, Al-Aqaba, Al-Maleh, Ibziq, Atuf, Mikhmas, Al-Mughayyir, Ramoun, Kherbet Abo Falah, Kufr Malik, An-Nassaryia, Qabalan, Beit Dajan, Aqraba. The total of 2730 working days days by 250 members of the 17 CBOs were provided as contribution in kind (not part of the budget).

1.3.2. Construction of cement or metallic pools Rawasi worked with the target 17 CBOs to construct 10 box shape cement or cylindrical shaped metallic pools with a capacity of 100 cubic metres / 225 cubic metres. Each was serving at least 25 livestock holders (The type of pool depends on the location and the threat from demolition by the Israel Defence Force. The metallic pools can be installed and dismantled within three days and is therefore preferred in threatened communities).

4 pools were linked to the end lines of proposed water networks. The remaining pools were distributed to model field school farm, and to meet water requirements of remote localities.

During the reporting period; 100 % of Rawasi target was achieved where 6 cement/ 4 metallic pools were established in 10 locations as follows: Locations of constructed Agricultural pools # locations Unit type Pool capacity Governorate 1. Faqua’a Metallic 225 m3 Jenin 2. Tubas Metallic 225 m3 Tubas 3. Salhab Metallic 225 m3 Tubas 4. Al-Aqaba Cement 100 m3 Tubas 5. Furush Beit Dajan Metallic 225 m3 Nablus 6. Beit Hassan Cement 100 m3 Nablus

7. Al-Jiftlik Cement 100 m3 Jericho 8. Az-Zubidat Cement 100 m3 Jericho 9. Khrbet Abo Falah Cement 100 m3 Ramallah 10. Ramoon Cement 100 m3 Ramallah

1.3.3. Provision of trailered metallic water tanks Trailered metallic water tanks are an important tool for nomadic Bedouin communities to collect, store and transport water for their livestock. They are mobile and can be displaced according to their seasonal movements. In collaboration with target CBOs, 30 locally manufactured trailered water tanks with a capacity of 3,000 litres were distributed to 18 Bedouin communities in the project area.

Selection criteria included the following:  At least 15 Bedouin families with at least 350 heads of livestock to be served by each trailer,  Impact on water prices and distance from water resources,  Availability of a tractor for towing the trailer (as a contribution by the community).

In addition to the coordination with the CBOs on the selection of localities, Rawasi exchanged data about previously benefited people from MoA and FAO. Technical specifications of manufacturing mobile tanks were prepared based on assessment of lessons learned from previously alike implemented activities. For instance related to design (inclusion hydraulic brakes connections), and safety of the drivers and beneficiaries (distribution of licenced trailers).

In order to ensure that these tanks are properly used and sustained, agreements with CBOs were signed and rotation programs were prepared. Each trailered tank is owned by the CBO who lends it to livestock holders for certain period, then get it back, examine it and then give it to another beneficiary.

During the reporting period; 100 % of Rawasi target was achieved as 30 trailered tanks were distributed in 18 locations: Raba (1), Al Maleh (6), Al Aqaba (3), Al-Bqe'a (1), Beit Furik (2), Frush Beit Dajan (2), An-Nassarya (1), al Duke (1), Al-Jiftlik (3), Moarjat East & West (2), Nowamih (2), al Ouja (1), Az-Zubidat (1), Fasayel (1), Khrbet Abo Falah (1), Al-Mughayyir (1), Mukhmas (1).

1.3.4. Construction of water distribution points and promotion of good water management

PARC/ICARDA and CARE have worked with the 17 CBOs on assessing the areas’ needs with regard to water systems and water management tools. Locations marked by lack of water conveying systems were discussed. The candidate locations were finally selected upon clear set of selection criteria that combined water indicators, socio-economic indicators and management capacities of the CBOs criteria. Questionnaires were assessed by joint committees composed on of the CBOs and project partners. Selection was finalized after consultations with MoA, municipalities and Palestinian Water Authority.

Quantities and technical specifications of conveyance pipelines were estimated, and call for tender was launched in the newspapers. A special management committee was formed in the selected locations to distribute the tasks, define the management process, the distribution plan, the cost and the contribution of the community, the sustainability of the activity and the duties of the CBOs and the beneficiaries. Each committee has submitted their plan prior to actual implementation of the activity.

The construction work comprised the following: 1) Installing 10 kilometres of permanent water conveyance pipelines 2) Construction of small closed water reservoirs, and, 3) Providing additional required management accessories such as water meters, reducers and, valves. The dual use of water

16 conveying system for both humans & livestock were taken into account when defining the technical specifications of delivery and installation of network equipments.

The installed water networks were selected in areas that extended existing conveying system in areas near to water source (water supply guaranteed). The total of 24,019 heads and 840 people will be served by these networks as per the below details:

Water distribution points locations Dimensio # n # # Locations Governorate km Serviced (in Serviced People Flock inches) 1. Atuf Tubas 2.6 6 5,000 90 2. Ibziq Tubas 2.5 4 3,000 150 3. Yarza / Aqaba Tubas 3.55 4 2,000 30 4. Aqraba Nablus 0.75 2 5,778 210 5. Furush Beit Dajan Nablus 0.6 6 8,241 360 840 Total 10 24,019 (~140 families)

Due to the implementation of the water networks activities farmer were not only provided with a sustainable source of water, but also with a cheaper source (where they are now paying less than 50% of the original costs of water).

During reporting period, 100% of Rawasi target was competed where 10 Km. of water networks were established in 5 locations.

Activity 1.4. Provision of high-yielding forage seeds One of the most expensive inputs affecting the production cost for livestock holders is fodder (almost 70% of the cost of production). Through Rawasi project, livestock holders are introduced to new affordable, high quality and productivity inputs that aim at reducing the cost of the fodder; such as providing them with high yielding forage seeds.

Most of the forage seeds used by livestock holders have low yields and are not adapted to the climatic conditions in the project area. ICARDA has pre-selected a variety of high yielding locally adapted seeds and have planted them for multiplication with leading farmers’ groups (beforehand the success of their adaptability and productivity levels were tested). More than 75 tons of improved wheat, barley, vetch, clover, sorghum, corn and millet seeds were distributed to 492 lead livestock holders from Tubas, Nablus, Jenin, Jericho, Ramallah and Jerusalem.

The total of 393 hectares was planted by selected beneficiaries under the supervision of project team. Each demonstration was divided in two parts; one using the traditionally used seeds by the livestock holders, and the second part with the new promoted high yielding forage seeds by the project. This comparative testing methodology helped project team to easily convince the farmers with the effectiveness of using the high yielding forage seeds that shall help them produce more affordable fodder. Livestock holders did not only plant the seeds, but were also involved in regular measurements of quantities and quality of produced bio-mass and its impact on the livestock productivity. Below is a summary of the results:

Summer crops Millet and corn performance were evaluated against each other (farmers traditionally used corn) at farmer’s fields (10 farmers Millet and 10 farmers corn) at Tubas and Nablus during the growing season. Three samples were selected randomly from the demonstration field (1 M2 per each sample) to assess the average biomass weight of Millet, which resulted in an increase to about 29,330 kg/ha compared to 22,000 kg /ha from corn.

Moreover, Millet could be harvested three times per season, compared to one time harvest for corn (with total average biomass of 88,000 kg/ha = 75% increase of corn production). All results were documented and shared with extension departments at MoA directorates; especially the fact that involved livestock holders indicated that produced bio mass used in feeding animals (mainly sheep) had shown high palatability by the animals.

Towards the end of the two seasons, farmers involved in the planting and the assessment of the high yielding forage seeds started to act as local focal points sharing their experiences with other livestock holders (demonstrations/ exchange visit activities under Rawasi/ etc.). They were also linked to NARC who trained them on producing, conserving and storing the seeds for coming seasons. Assessments with the farmers showed that they were able to reserve part of the planted seeds to be used in coming season. Rawasi project was concluded with farmers planting their winter crops.

Winter crops The improved wheat varieties gave 8 to 20% more grain yield than the farmers’ commonly-grown variety (Kahatat) with better seed quality. The improved barley variety gave 10 to 18 % more grain yield than the local variety. The improved vetch gave 25 % more yield and the improved clover gave 14% more grain yield than the local variety, which is commonly grown by farmers.

Finally, under this activity and as part of the collective management approach adopted by Rawasi project; especially for natural resources; the team was able to convince the Tubas Governorate to dedicate around 1738 dunums to be managed as grazing land. Part of which is currently under the supervision of the field school farms.

During reporting period, 100% of Rawasi target was competed, as 5668 dunums (equivalent of around 567ha) = 3930 dunums by farmers + 1738 dunums for collective management by the field school farms and in coordination with the Governorate of Tubas (including additional approved areas for the no cost extension period) were planted.

Activity 1.5. Construction and rehabilitation of agriculture roads Many parts of the project area are difficult to access. Road infrastructure is either very poor or non- existent which for example affects service delivery to livestock holders and hampers their physical access to grazing land and markets.

In coordination with MoA, project team selected 10 kilometres agricultural roads with a width of four to six metres (depending on the location). The selection criteria for the location of the roads included: access to grazing land, size of livestock flock, CBOs and their members benefitting from road, proximity to grazing lands and markets, etc.work will vary between the different locations but will involve the following elements: heavy machinery works (bulldozers, graders, etc.), adding of a layer of compacted and levelled base course, construction of culverts and longitudinal drainage trenches for water drainage, construction of stony retaining walls for road protection.

The finalization of the agricultural roads was very challenging as Israeli forces were very alert in the selected hot areas. The construction was carried out by experienced contractors who were able to select most suitable interventions timing and most suitable machineries that would not attract the attention of the Israeli military forces. None of the roads were destructed and the governorate is officially taking care of their maintenance as part of ensuring maximum sustainability to the provided activity. Due to these roads farmers are now able to get services in cheaper price (basically water), are

18 able to access 9580 dunums of new grazing lands and are able to access markets in an easier manner with much more reduced risks of losses due to spoilage. Below is a summary of the locations and benefited communities:

Selected locations and length of agriculture roads Grazing Areas accessed # Locations Gov. km # people # flock (Dunums) 1 Ibziq Tubas 1.80 750 7,370 1,660 2 Yarza Tubas 4.30 1600 8,275 4,120 Al- 3 Ramallah 1.2 3770 9,200 2,100 Mughayyr 4 Beit Dajan Nablus 2.7 1200 3,764 1,700 Total 10 7,320 28,609 9,580

Implementation status: 100% of work is completed in all locations.

Activity 1.6. Develop and implement an evidence-based advocacy plan to document and advocate for protection of rights to land and water and improved access

Although evidence-based advocacy is part of ER 1, it constitutes an important cross-cutting component as a key intervention strategy throughout. In line with CARE’s advocacy strategy, it focuses on all aspects of access and movement restrictions as well as limitations that male and female livestock holders encounter in the West Bank. Evidence gathered clearly showed the impact of these restrictions on the livelihoods of the livestock holders.

1.6.1. Develop advocacy plan Rawasi team builds on the work carried out by existing networks and allies active in advocating for the rights of the target communities. Through the development of Rawasi advocacy plan, the project team and in close collaboration with the communities, they provided timely evidence of ongoing violations, procedures and developments in Area C.

The advocacy plan was developed involving key stakeholders in the target locations including: representatives of the communities, NRC, OCHA, representatives of MoA. During the inception period, project team was able to coordinate with different actors to inform them on: 1) target communities’ pressing needs, 2) stake holders needed to be involved, 3) main activities to be implemented under the advocacy plan.

Throughout Rawasi project, and based on evidence gathered by the team (in accordance with the advocacy plan) the following was achieved:

 Production of materials to advocate for protection of rights to land and water. This includes advocacy related materials (activity 1.6.2.) and technical materials on water impact, land/water management techniques, and tools. These documents were shared with MoA and relevant actors.  Use project data in nation-wide advocacy platforms. This includes national events, protection cluster and AIDA meetings.  Strengthen the system of reporting incidents where sustainable protection networks were created between communities and NRC.  Created linkages between communities and the relevant ministries (MoA & MoL) to deliver livestock related services.

During reporting period: 100% of the work was finalized as the advocacy plan was developed, linked to concrete activities and shared with relevant stake holders.

1.6.2. Production of short policy briefings The evidence gathered throughout the advocacy plan and the different assessments implemented through Rawasi were widely shared through meetings/ briefings/ short reports which detailed aspects of access and movement restrictions (such as access to water and grazing land) and their impact of livestock holders’ livelihoods. The briefings included concrete recommendations to key stakeholders such as international donor communities, Palestinian National Authority, different governorates, on how to reduce the impact of the restrictions on the livestock holders in Area C.

During reporting period: 100% of the work was finalized as short policy briefings/ meetings were implemented throughout the project with international organizations, donors, MoA, MoL, Tubas Governors, other NGOs active in the field. CARE and PARC used key messages drawn from Rawasi activities to influence the development of livestock sector strategies and policies.

1.6.3. Strengthening of incident reporting chains Because of the volatile political and security situation within Area C, one of the main goals of advocacy efforts is to protect the lives and livelihoods of the livestock holders. Experience showed that if demolition incidents are timely reported to stakeholders (basically NRC in Rawasi case), chances of delaying and preventing demolitions are higher. Throughout Rawasi project, tehse incidents were reported, documented and followed up systematically providing evidence base for advocating against harmful occupation policies.

At the beginning of the project, joint training courses with representatives of target communities were implemented to introduce reporting mechanisms in place. The training courses were implemented jointly by NRC and OCHA to improve knowledge and skills of Rawasi team members in addition to two representatives from each of the 17 CBOs. The training focused on evidence based incidents documentation and reporting requirements and formats.

Based on the training course, a reporting system was created by the project team. Communities’ representatives followed the instructions, used the reporting formats on timely manner and shared them with CARE who shared them with NRC. NRC followed up on all reported cases and referred them to either their legal advisors/lawyers at NRC or at their partner JLAC or at the network of legal advisors at the relevant Ministries.

Below is a list of all cases that were reported by the community. Two of them directly affected four project beneficiaries, where one pool and three barns rehabilitated by Rawasi received demolition orders. All cases, even those not directly related to Rawasi but within targeted communities, were followed up on with the NRC in order to maintain the trust relations built with the communities. (Details on each case are available).

Topic Items Date Location Involved Affected Organization Families Demolition Several structures: 4/06/2014 Al NRC 5 tents and animal barns Aqaba/Tubas Stop Work Several structures: 15/09/2014 Al NRC 2 order tents and animal barns Malih/Tubas . Official order available Demolition Several structures: 07/10/2014 Bardala NRC 4 Order tents and animal barns village . Official order not available Confiscation 3 tractors 09/12/2014 Khirbet Yerza, NRC 3 Tubas

Demolition Several structures: 06/01/2015 Tubas- NRC/EU 3 tents and animal barns Kaabneh Demolition Several structures: 20/01/2015 Tubas- Ein al NRC 4 Order tents and animal barns. Beida (Rawasi Official order available related) Demolition Water line Yerza and 29/01/2015 Tubas (Yerza) NRC 2 communities- Eynoun 50 families Demolition Animal barns 24/06/2015 Numeh – NRC 3 orders Jericho Stop work Water cistern 13/04/2015 Al Mughayyer NRC 2 order Demolition Water pool 10/02/2016 Beit Dajan NRC 20 order (Rawasi related)

As indicated in the table, two cases were encountered affecting directly intervention by Rawasi project. However due to thorough follow up with NRC, project was able to prevent the interventions’ demolitions where cases are filed in the military court and anticipated to take at least 2-3 years.

1.6.4. Production of case studies and human interest stories CARE and PARC collaborated with the 17 CBOs to develop four sets of multimedia case studies, human interest stories and photo documents on evidence emerging from the project. These are used to contribute to the national and international advocacy efforts around access and movement restrictions, supplementing the policy briefings with a human face. Please see Annex I: human interest stories

During reporting period: 100% of the work was finalized as four sets of multimedia case studies created and distributed nationally and internationally.

1.6.5. Organisation of a round table discussion with decision-makers in Austria In order to widely disseminate the key advocacy messages and stimulate discussion on human rights based solutions to support livestock holders in Area C, CARE organised two interconnected events as follows: 1. A visit of selected well known, widely followed Austrian journalists to West Bank to report first hand on the impact of access and movement restrictions on livestock holders. The visit started with a quick overview on Area C context in Palestine and its connections to International Human Laws. A field visit followed in Rawasi targeted locations where journalists were introduced to project activities/ interventions and innovations and their direct impact on targeted communities in Area C. The visit was concluded with meetings with selected Palestinian journalists who are actively involved in Area C issues. In addition to immediate tweeting (while during the visit), the journalists went back and wrote articles on their visit to Austrian newspapers and media outlets. 2. A round table discussion on February 25th, 2016 with decision makers in Austria, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Austrian Development Agency, peer international organizations, media journalists, etc. The round table discussion was implemented in cooperation with Austrian Development Cooperation who also brought experiences from other countries on the topic “markets in crises” with strong focus on private sector engagement/development. The presentation on Rawasi project focused on opportunities and constraints facing livestock holders and the impact of the smart interventions carried out to create sustainable holistic solutions in such restricting environment. Part of the attendees were journalists, mainly those who participated in the field visit implemented by the project. As a result of the successful presentation by Rawasi´s project manager (Ms Hiba Tibi) and CARE´s

Regional Economic Empowerment Director (Mr. Anan Kittaneh) at this occasion, the Austrian Development Agency invited CARE to present the proven approaches of private sector development in fragile contexts at its annual all staff gathering in Vienna (foreseen for 09/2016).

During reporting period: 100% of the work was finalized as a round table discussion was held. And media outlets broadcasted Area C related features in Austria.

2.2.2. Activities for expected result 2: male and female livestock holders have enhanced health, quality and productivity of their livestock and improved links to extension services

Under Expected result 2 all activities are related to enhancing the health, quality and productivity of farmers’ livestock and improve their links to extension services. All activities were completed. Part of this set of interventions were training activities that focused on the governance and management capacities of CBOs, their finance and marketing skills as well as improved farm management, animal care and product processing.

The aim was to complement efforts made under ER 1. All training activities were provided in a similar format; peer to peer training to ensure that the training of pioneer farmers is further disseminated to other farmers.

The training activities were complemented and enforced by the project activities that provided crucial inputs for the livestock holders. Under ER 2, this consisted of barn improvements (450 structures were built for animal housing), provision of enhanced rams (distribution of 68 rams), distribution of log books for livestock holders (2000 tracking materials distributed) and milk containers (670 steel milk collectors were distributed).

These interventions were an important step in reaching higher productivity by livestock holders, who can now manage their herds safer with increased knowledge. The introduction and dissemination of best practices were enabled and strengthened by the use of model farms, where farmers can visibly learn and adopt new techniques. It was decided to update one existing model farm in Tubas and construction of another one in Beit Fourik.

Veterinary services have been addressed as a major issue to diminish production costs and increase productivity; both the immediate availability was increased for the participants by hiring 4 equipped medical staff, while structural linkages with public and private veterinary providers were improved. This component has been closely incorporated with other activities. So veterinary providers (MoA and private actors) were involved in the training and dissemination of best practices related to animal health and productivity (AI, tagging of animals) as well as the follow up on the distribution of improved rams among beneficiaries.

Activity 2.1.Improve management capacity of the 17 CBOs Capacity building is one of the central strategies of the project; where it is designed to cover the needs of both livestock holders and their CBOs. Livestock holders’ capacity building activities were more focused on technical aspects related to animal husbandry, management of natural resources (water and grazing lands), innovations to reduce the cost of production and increase the quantity and quality of animal produce. Part of these trainings was addressed to lead farmer members at the CBOs who acted as community focal points assisting the livestock holders to practice new technical knowledge.

Under activity 1.2 the capacity building activities were more focused on building the capacities of CBOs to act as socio-economic hubs and to operate as inclusive collectives, both from a social and from an economic perspective. This training series under activity 2.1 focused on good management practices and organisational governance for the 17 CBOs. The training programme followed a gradual

22 peer to peer approach. First, three lead livestock holders from each of the 17 CBOs were selected to participate in the centralised trainings. The selection criteria included:  Number of CBO members and size of livestock flock,  Participation of women (mixed CBOs or women CBOs),  Experience and capacities in collective work and service provision,  Economic viability including investments, assets and employment.

Training themes were further defined based on the gaps identified in the capacity and needs assessment (during inception phase) and included: cooperative enterprise development, women collective enterprises, gender in cooperatives, legal issues related to cooperatives, internal regulations and governance, marketing and entrepreneurship and financial management.

The total of 51 board of directors’ members were trained on two modules (4 days each) on governance and the principles of cooperation. Feedback and assessment showed that 85% found the training useful and 16% so far carried out corrective measures at their CBOs.

In a second phase, the 51 trained livestock holders (including 15 women) were involved in leading knowledge dissemination on management techniques (finance and marketing) within their CBO. The leadership of the 17 CBOs organised these follow-up processes which took place on a regular basis to ensure wide dissemination (refresher trainings). All training sessions integrated results from the livestock market system assessment to ensure the topics covered are relevant for the particular market situation in each cluster.

During reporting period: 100% of training sessions were finalized where

Activity 2.2. Implement tailor made training programme on farm management, animal husbandry and processing

Based on gaps identified in the capacity and needs assessment, a tailor made training programme on farm management, animal husbandry and processing was designed and implemented. The technical training program complements the management program and likewise followed a gradual peer to peer approach. It was carried out in the 30 target locations where 15 livestock holders were targeted in each location. The selection of participants was based on:  Participation of women (mixed CBOs or women CBOs),  Willingness and ability to share knowledge and experience,  Size of livestock flock (at least 20 sheep and/or goats),  CBO membership (Priority will be given to the members, however other livestock holders may participate as well).

The training sessions for the selected livestock holders was practical in nature and applied a mix of in- field presentations and small group discussions. Practical training sessions were linked to activity 2.3.1. Improving housing and shelter conditions (rehabilitation of barns). This facilitated the knowledge sharing and learning among the participants where they were able to observe, test and practice the new techniques.

Training materials were prepared in coordination with MoA, who was actively involved in the designing and the implementation of the program with regard to institutional services related to vaccination, animal medications and hygienic conditions of milking processes. All lists of livestock holders benefiting from Rawasi were shared with MoA veterinary departments to include them in their programs.

Under this activity, Rawasi team has disseminated the materials on Animal National Identification System implemented under LbL Institution by FAO and MoA. Rawasi targeted farmers were

23 encouraged to take part in the program. They have been explained the benefits and importance of the tagging system on both individual and national levels.

In the second phase, these 450 trained livestock holders were involved in leading the dissemination of the knowledge on the new techniques within the 17 CBOs. The leadership of the 17 CBOs organised these follow-up processes which took place on a regular basis to ensure wide dissemination and multiplication. Special attention was given to wrong individual inherited practices in animal husbandry.

The training programme covered the following topics:  Farm management: improving housing and shelter conditions for livestock; farm recording and animal tagging system; registration of farm events.  Animal husbandry: breeds; flock control; optimising fertility and reproduction; diagnosis, prevention and treatment of animal diseases and causes of abortions and pre-natal mortality; animal feeds, vaccine and medicines.  Processing: hygienic collection and processing of dairy products; improving traceability and quality control; zoonotic diseases.  Marketing: access to local, national and international markets; Fair Trade; added value through improved packaging and labelling; sections of credit and purchases

During reporting period: 100% of training sessions finalized with 450 livestock holders (35 female livestock holders).

Activity 2.3.Support productivity of animal husbandry Animal husbandry covers a wide range of activities such as care and managing, breeding, feeding, housing and disease control. Good animal husbandry helps livestock holders to increase quality and quantity of animal products. Based on the training programme Rawasi is collaborating with the 17 CBOs to provide the most needed inputs in implementing good animal husbandry practices.

2.3.1. Improving housing and shelter conditions (rehabilitation of barns) The preliminary survey carried out by Rawasi during the preparation phase showed that most small ruminant barns in the project area did not provide adequate shelter from weather. This was further confirmed by the baseline survey and the CBOs who indicated that animal barns/shelters in the target locations represented unhygienic condition that contributes to the spreading of animal diseases.

During the proejct period, 450 barns were rehabilitated through improving the structural design, building partitions, installing feeders, drinkers and drainage system and introducing manure management. Selection criteria focused on women owned barns, status of existing barns, cost of rehabilitation, size of livestock flock. This activity was linked to activity 2.2. Implement tailor made training programme on farm management, animal husbandry and processing, and was fully coordinated with MoA.

During reporting period: 100% of barns (450) were rehabilitated and finalised (35 female herders).

2.3.2. Optimising fertility and reproduction (Provision of enhanced breed rams) In line with the set of priorities defined by MoA livestock strategy; enhanced rams breeds activity was further developed throughout year one of the project. A rapid assessment in the different locations resulted in the selection of two main breeds as the most suitable for the locations climatic context: Assaf and Awasi. These two breeds were already tested in the targeted locations and showed good results in terms of the increase of production of milk and meat.

In order to ensure that the rams were well selected, a special committee was formed of PARC, CARE and MoA. The committee first set the selection criteria including the characteristics of the rams, their certificates of origin, the history of the ram, selected blood tests and available permission from MoA. The total of 68 enhanced breed rams were selected and distributed as per the details below (8 Awasi & 60 Assaf).

In parallel with the training on animal husbandry, Rawasi team and in coordination with the CBOs pre-selected 4 lead farmers from each of the CBOs to receive an enhanced breed ram. The potential rams’ beneficiaries were subjected to field study to ensure the success of breed improvement. The selection criteria included: 1) commitment and the acquired knowledge throughout animal husbandry training sessions (expertise to implement essential fertility and reproduction techniques such as artificial insemination, pregnancy diagnosis, lambing and weaning management), 2) size of owned livestock flock and, 3) participation of women. Selected farmers were requested to choose their best 15 ewes for each ram. Those ewes were subjected to mating program using the application of synchronization. In case of the two CBOs responsible of the model field school farms, the rams were not distributed to lead farmers, but were kept at the school farm.

In first mating course, 62 ewes were impregnated by improved rams’ breed to deliver 93 lambs (1.5 fertility rate; 53 males: 40 females’ lambs). The genetic impact of improved rams was tested on fertility and meat gain as the first result to give evidence within project course. The early acquired data showed that male lambs weighed 4.7 kg and females weighed 3.75 kg at birth contrasting to 3.3 kg’s and 3.0 kg’s for indigenous breed. Those lambs were monitored during nursing period until weaning age, whereas data showed sharp positive contrast against indigenous offspring (17.5 kg and 14.5 kg’s versus 12.5 kg and 11.6 kg for males and females).

After discussions with different stakeholders (CBOs, lead farmers, MoA, PLDC, FAO, Sulalah project, etc.), and taking into account the time constraint under this activity, Rawasi partners and in collaboration with MoA decided to follow a well-organized and careful twofold approach to ensure maximum benefit of the enhanced fast breeds improvement to larger scale through the lifecycle of the project as follows:

1. Lead farmers receiving the enhanced breed rams; and during the second generation of reproduction cycle (4 males’ offspring per ram), distributed one ram to another beneficiary in coordination with the CBO. The cycle shall continue with the second generation beneficiaries who in future shall distribute one ram of the enhanced breed. CBOs were responsible with the lead farmers to follow up on the rams’ health conditions and made sure that rams are tested by MoA prior to any distributions (this was feasible as Rawasi distributed with each ram separation tools to trace and document rams health conditions, fertility and productivity). 2. In coordination with MoA and PLDC; artificial insemination techniques were introduced. This allowed for better assessment of impact of the mating program (fertility, litter size, birth weight, quality, conformation of offspring in comparison to offspring from the farmers rams) that was tested during second year of the project. This activity will be followed up by the CBOs in coordination with the MoA to document and disseminate best practices and lessons learned after the end of the project.

This activity is well connected to the different activities under ER2. Field school rams and lead farmers were monitored by Rawasi veterinarians to ensure that they are following and documenting recommended better practices related to barn management, animal husbandry, enhancement of productivity techniques, hygiene and animal health.

During reporting period: 100% of this activity completed (8 Awasi & 60 Assaf improved breeds were distributed).

2.3.3. Improving farm recording and animal tagging system During technical training courses, Livestock holders have been trained in sound record keeping and registering any livestock related events (e.g. vaccinations, medications, pregnancy), inputs (e.g. feed and water consumption) and outputs (e.g. milk and wool production). This allowed farmers to better practice barn management activities including fodder monitoring, mortality rates, flock health, quality and quantity of meat and milk production, etc.

In coordination with MoA, the project has designed, printed and distributed user friendly farm records. This activity was designed combining a simple numbering system for the farm to ease up the recording process, however and due to the fact that the LbL-i is carrying out the national animal identification system, Rawasi team put the numbering activity on hold to avoid duplication- as the target locations were given the priority by the national identification system team.

During year 2 and as part of the coordination mechanism, CARE followed up with FAO to produce water proof framed awareness raising posters that provided three different messages on importance of animal identification system. 1500 framed posters (50*70) were distributed to municipalities, veterinary services departments, most known veterinarians, and peer NGOs in different governorates.

During reporting period: 100% completed with all farm log books distributed, 1500 framed posters (50*70) printed and distributed in West Bank.

2.3.4. Hygienic milking, collection and processing of dairy products During different assessments carried out by Rawasi project, and through direct observations of the field team, it was evident that there is a loss of collected milk used for dairy products as livestock holders traditionally used wood milk collecting containers.

This activity aimed at providing the livestock holders with stainless steel collecting containers that did not only allow them to save the wasted milk, but also allowed them to use better safe and hygienic equipment; leading them to better processing of dairy products in a clean and safe way.

During reporting period: 100% completed distribution of hygienic milk utensils to 670 livestock holders (approved 220 additional beneficiaries during NCE).

Activity 2.4 Facilitate access of CBOs to public and private veterinary services for reducing mortality of lambs and increasing animal health

The preliminary surveys showed that livestock holders consider availability of and access to veterinary services, vaccination and medicine as priorities for interventions. The loss of livestock due to diseases is a direct risk to their livelihoods.

In the West Bank, veterinary services containing contagious epidemics are provided by the MoA. Other classic veterinary services and control of non-contagious diseases are provided by private veterinary service providers. Livestock holders in Area C have problems accessing both, due to their physical, social and economic marginalisation.

Two full time veterinarians and two full time animal production specialists were hired to provide complementary veterinary services and to build the capacities of livestock holders to identify health related diseases.

Field team created linkages with private companies to provide medicine with more affordable prices. This is carried out through the CBOs who were encouraged to carry out collective purchases for medical inputs. Moreover, all data related to livestock holders beneficiaries of Rawasi, their locations, contact details, size of their flock and the status of their flocks was all communicated to MoA veterinary departments to better include them in public vaccination campaigns. Additionally, MoA

26 focal point for Rawasi project was invited to veterinary field days where she met with beneficiaries and CBOs to link livestock holders to MoA veterinary services.

In addition to carrying out more than 1200 visits covering 450 beneficiaries, the team and in cooperation with MoA worked on designing and distributing educational materials addressing relevant veterinary topics. All materials were coordinated with MoA including contact details, guidelines and practices promoted by the MoA,

During reporting period: 100% completed where 1200 visits were carried out, learned lessons and best practices related to animal husbandry were documented and disseminated with a collaboration of MoA (10,000 printed copies), all data on beneficiaries transferred to MoA and linkages established.

Activity 2.5. Establish two model livestock field school farms for quality animal husbandry and processing based on a cooperative approach

In parallel to the demonstration sites of new fodder production and water harvesting techniques under ER 1, a field school farm was established3 (benefitting East Ramallah and Centre Jordan Valley) and another one existing in Tubas was upgraded. During preparatory meetings, CBOs in the target areas expressed their need for training facilities on new animal husbandry techniques and the MoA ensured their support to the approach.

Model field school farms were used to allow farmers to participate in pilot demonstrations that build on all components of project, illustrating how production and different value chain stages are interconnected and how simple yet effective techniques allowed livestock holders to decrease the cost of production and increase the quality and quantity of their products. The demonstrations focused on the comprehensive process applying all training practices in the farm, following production hygiene criteria, recommendations of the dairy market system assessment, innovative fodder production, water harvesting, storing and processing techniques, in addition to thorough follow up with veterinarians’ recommendations and suggestions.

All practices were carefully documented as evidence for the farmers who were encouraged to replicate the innovations (as they were actively involved in the implementation and the assessment of innovations’ impact). The field school farms were opened to farmers member at the two CBOs responsible of the management of the farms, farmers from the community and the surrounding communities, and farmers from Rawasi project and other similar projects in West Bank (through exchange visits).

The following knowledge topics are examples of capacity building and awareness raising activities implemented by the field schools farms:  Promotion of techniques and best practices for livestock management, such as culling, immunization and artificial insemination.  Provision of information on quality management training and certifications (e.g. HACCP) based on the needs highlighted in the market system assessment (see Activity 3.1.).

3 Due to locations’ political and military context, the establishment of Beit Fourik took longer time to make sure that selected location is not under threat of demolitions. Originally the school farm was selected to be established in Froush Beit Dajan, but further assessments showed that it was a risky location as new military camp was established on a nearby location. Throughout the selection process, MoA was fully involved not only on the level of location’s selection but also on the design of the school farm.

 Fodder related topics: production and storing techniques, alternative feed, etc. specially that the farm was provided with storage facilities that allowed purchasing larger quantities of fodder with lower prices and to store them safely. In particular, female members of CBOs were encouraged to participate and take the lead in these activities, given their important role in dairy processing and marketing. In collaboration with the MoA, experiences were documented and shared for MoA records and lessons learned.

As part of the exit strategy adopted by the project, team carried out the following: 1. Connected the field school farms with different service providers that are providing them with services needed with lower prices. This includes fodder, veterinary services, management tools, medicine companies, etc. 2. Created a follow up/ management committee composed of the CBO, MoA, PARC & CARE. This committee shall follow up on the sustainability of the project and will ensure the linkages with MoA programs. This committee is also following up on the establishment of the dairy processing unit that was granted by MoA.

During reporting period: 100% completed work on rehabilitation of existing Tubas school farm started, and finished construction of second school farm.

2.2.3. Activities for expected result 3: Male and female livestock holders have better returns from increasing the value-added of their products

In order to serve the ultimate goal of the project; increasing the returns livestock holders have from their products; the following complementary activities were implemented starting from a market system/ value chain analysis of dairy products with business planning and capacity-building opportunities for CBOs and SMEs who served as connectors to the market for smallholders. The elaborate market system assessment has been concluded and its results have immediately impacted the activities in the whole Rawasi program. Through its identified options for better and more sustainable connection to consumers, it carried the potential to let farmers benefit from high quality production and fair market linkages. The completion of the study gave way to the start of the other activities that focus on specialized, high-impact training and intervention at the CBO/SME level. Most of these activities continued in Year 2, to follow up on the improvements in the first phase of the project – namely the improvements in the production phase of milk. In order to close the cycle of ER3; value chain inputs were provided to 7 CBOs/SMEs to strengthen livestock holders’ access to markets and optimise their products’ value chain. This included the creation of four dairy production units and provision of complementary packaging machines to the SMEs.

Activity 3.1 Conduct a market system assessment of sheep and goat dairy products During the first eight months of the project, a customized comprehensive and detailed market system analysis was conducted by the Small Enterprise Center, contracted by PARC. This assessment took into account the uniqueness of each geographical cluster for each dairy product; it served as a reference document that steered the decisions and interventions related to dairy production on project level.

In order to respond to the needs of the different stakeholders, the assessment was designed to capture data into the following main fields:  Market Demand for Sheep/Goat Dairy Products: where the overall demand in local and international markets is described. This also included listing and analysing consumer’s preferences for specific sheep and goat dairy products along with the attributes that meet customer’s demand.

 Analysed current livestock holder’s product attributes (Competitive Analysis) including: 1) list of key livestock holders’ products in Area C along with existing attributes that are produced at the cluster level 2) comparison between farmers’ products with those existing in the local, Israeli, and export market, highlighting differences in products’ attributes. Moreover, and at the product attribute’s level, the assessment highlighted ways of improvement and changes in order to enable access between livestock holders and markets.  Provided a thorough assessment of the infrastructure and services as part of the enabling environment, and provided recommendations to stakeholders accordingly.  Value Chain Mapping and Analysis for products that are deemed to have potential and socio- economic impact at the livestock holder’s level/ CBO level, including analysis of the constraints, potentials, stakeholders, impact of extension services on the net income, assessment of the capacity of target groups (knowledge, equipment, tools, technical knowledge, etc.)  Value Chain Optimization and Development to increase Income of Livestock Holders through improved access to markets and value addition based on the found potential, known existing and potential stakeholder capacity (especially those of CBOs and livestock holders), identified opportunities in the value chain to meet product demand and satisfy consumer’s preferences, and identification of top ranked market players to be further targeted by the project.  Analysed systemic constraints facing women in dairy VC. The summary of main findings can be summarised as follows: o Agriculture, especially in the context of sheep and goat dairy products production, is one of the most important sources of employment for women in rural areas. Women are involved heavily in the input stage. However, they are constrained by the lack of knowledge, equipment, and training. Majority of women use unsuitable equipment in the input and processing stages. Additionally, women require training and knowledge in the areas of nutrition, artificial insemination, hygiene, quality control and marketing. o Palestinian women own 7.7% of the land or real estate and fewer than 8% of the agricultural holdings. Fewer than 20% of the Palestinian women exercise their inheritance rights, a percentage decreases further in rural areas. Livestock is another valuable agricultural asset that represents a source of income and wealth accumulation for women as well as being an important source of resistance to shocks. Whole family headed households have larger livestock holdings on average than female-headed households. Education, health and nutrition are all constraints on women’s labor productivity in agriculture. Females earn less than men from their livestock holdings, although female-headed households are as successful as male-headed households in generating income from their animals. o There is a huge gap existing in terms of wages between females and males in the Palestinian livestock sector. The average daily wage of permanent male employees is around 65 NIS and 70 NIS for temporary male employees, while 37 NIS for permanent female employees and 53 NIS for temporary female employees. This issue has to be addressed at all levels, especially through enforcing the labor law. Women comprise, on average, 24-43% of the agricultural labor force in Palestine. According to FAO, women are more likely than men to hold low-wage, part-time, and seasonal employment. o The gender gap in formal and informal wage employment is large and women tend to be paid less and sometimes even unpaid. Farms that are run by female-headed households tend to have less availability of farm work as these households are typically smaller and have fewer working-age adult members. Agriculture is the most important source of employment for women in rural areas. Women’s participation in the agricultural labor force may lead to an underestimation of the amount of work

women do. This is because women are less likely than men to define their activities as work and less likely to report themselves as being engaged in agriculture. The time provided by female farmers to agriculture varies widely depending on the product and the phase of the value chain. However, women are typically involved to some extent in all farming activities. Women perform almost 100% of the processing procedures for dairy products such as preparation of cheese, yogurt and lebaneh, which they process either at their homes or in small production units. o Lastly, women are less likely to utilize purchased inputs such as fertilizers, improved seeds and/ or mechanical tools and equipment. Women are only half as likely as men to use fertilizers, which translates into a high productivity advantage for men over women. Gender gaps exist for a wide range of agricultural technologies, including machines and tools, improved plant varieties, animal breeds, fertilizers, pest control measures and management techniques. The share of farmers using mechanical equipment and tools is quite low, but it is significantly lower for farmers in female headed households and, at times, by very wide margins.

Results of the VC assessment has steered the design of Rawasi project activities including those related to production, processing and marketing (ER1, ER2, ER3). And since the assessment was cluster based; it also validated the interventions and decided on where these interventions should be implemented. For instance if water was identified as the main challenge in a given cluster; then water management techniques/ infrastructure/ etc. would be given the priority as target area in that cluster.

As for the market linkages component (ER3); findings demonstrated that sheep and goat dairy products produced at local level – i.e. by households and CBOs, such as fresh milk, yogurt, strained yogurt (labaneh), and hard-skimmed yogurt (jmeed or kishik) – have huge market potential (While local cow-livestock holders face high competition, sheep and goat livestock holders would benefit from being linked better to local markets).

The assessment showed that there is an annual increase in demand of about 3%, which makes dairy products a high potential market:  Existing shortage and unavailability of sheep and goat dairy products, especially in premium markets e.g. Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem,  Less competition on unmixed sheep and goat dairy products than for cow or mixed dairy products.

Also the assessment showed that since sheep and goat holders are mostly poorer small-scale farmers, there is a large social benefit in addition to the economic impact. However, realising the socio- economic potential and increasing the value-added of the sheep and goat dairy products requires the following:  Increased quality consistency and assurance of dairy products,  Better packaging than what is currently available,  Better documentation of source of origin and ingredients.

The results were shared with different actors at the national level including MoA, INGOs & NGOs. This can be summarized as follows: 1. On project level: the results provided project team and relevant consultants with guidelines to design all project activities along the value chain to respond to identified constraints (e.g. related to unaffordable cost of production and low quality produce) and optimization options (related to private sector engagement for both marketing and provision of innovative solutions). It also contributed to the identification of most relevant actors, selection of top ranked CBOs & WGs/ SMEs, the capacity building activities, the design of the value chain inputs (dairy units design) and

also the marketing activities that were fully based on the findings of the study and its recommendations. 2. On CBOs & Women Groups (WGs)/ SMEs level: all market information related to market demands, existing competition on cluster and national level, attributes, consumers behaviours and preferences were all integrated as part of the capacity building activities and the development of action plans. Assessments with targeted CBOs & WGs/ SMEs showed that access to market information and its implications on their work was enormous. 3. On MoA level: all results and recommendations related sheep and goat dairy products technicalities, enabling environment –especially in Area C- were provided to MoA to based their intervention on evidence. The results were also taken into account when developing the livestock sector strategy and other agriculture sector strategy. 4. On Palestinian and international NGOs level: the same is applied on the NGOs active in the field; who were provided with the results and were fully consulted throughout the process. The assessment document was used as a reference for relevant actors; providing them with evidence based recommendations for the designing of livestock and fodder production projects. This includes: UAWC, GVC, DAI and Oxfam Italia. 5. Private sector level: the results of the assessment provided and incentivized model for private sector to invest either in the dairy products itself (will be highlighted in the coming sections), or in providing innovative solutions identified as part of the constraints facing the value chain. For instance the involvement of the Palestinian companies in manufacturing conservative agriculture seeders and more effective hydroponic stations.

During reporting period: 100% finalized through the cluster-based and participatory sheep and goat market system assessment (incl. gender analysis) conducted. Assessment report was customised for each of the clusters and results were shared with communities and other stakeholders. Third component of this project focus was decided: leveraging the additional value added of sheep and goat products by focusing on quality and marketing.

Activity 3.2. Design a business plan for each of the 7 high-potential CBO/social enterprise/SMEs Seven high-performing entities (4 CBOs and 3 SMEs) were identified and selected (from the originally targeted 17 CBOs and from mapping on existing active SMEs) based on the findings and recommendations of the Dairy Market System Assessment. Further, more specified and market related capacity building was carried out with these seven high potential enteties to act as socio-economic hubs, capable of providing their members with market related information and services; thus empowering their communities and livestock holders to resolve key constraints in their value chain.

The design of high level business plans and needs assessment was carried out during the market system assessment, where a general profile for each of the 17 CBOs and identified 3 SMEs was developed.

Under this activity a more elaborated well-articulated and detailed business plans and needs assessment were developed for the top ranked 7 CBOs/ SMES with highest potentials. These were selected based on the following criteria:

 Their technical and non-technical capabilities, including management, governance, financial, marketing and sales, processing requirements, quality awareness, financial systems and technical requirements;  Their facilities readiness and requirements, including modern vs. traditional processing, available machines for packaging and collecting points for milk; and  Tacking stock of infrastructure (i.e. water, electricity, sewage), including required rehabilitation.

Analysis of the dairy value chains for the 7 high potential CBOs/ SMEs was dissected elaborately along two main chronological phases: 1) Pre-production phase and its key activities (keeping dairy sheep and goat, growing fodder and feeding animals husbandry practices like breeding, and disease control), 2) Production phase (milking and delivering small amounts of milk for local consumption (less than 5 % of total milk), collection and bulking, cooling, processing and packaging, transport and distribution, wholesale and retailing).

During reporting period: 100% completed with high level business plans and needs assessment finalised for the 17 CBOs and the 3 SMEs. Customised VC optimization analysis finished and business plans were developed along with the needs assessment.

Activity 3.3. Design a tailor made capacity building package for 7 CBOs/SMEs to fulfil their business plans Based on the results of the market system assessment and the development of the business plans and the needs assessment of the 7 CBOs/ SMEs capacity building themes/ packages were designed for the top ranked CBOs/ SMEs. The capacity building under this activity was more thematic oriented towards value chain assessment results including pre-production phase, production phase, processing, packaging, marketing, etc. moreover the capacity building package also focused on CBOs/ SMEs management and governance- especially when it comes to established networks with small and medium livestock holders supported by the project.

Under the lead of Rawasi business development and marketing specialist; all consultants involved in Rawasi project reviewed all relevant project documents to ensure developing a thorough, unified and comprehensive understanding of the project’s market oriented approach; and how all components are designed to achieve it. This entailed the revision of the project proposal, logical framework, market dairy system assessment, baseline survey and all other studies/reports conducted within the framework of the project. As a result; an integrated capacity building plan was developed covering multi-layered topics including: management, food processing and marketing.

Moreover, and in order to ensure that all involved actors; including project team, consultants and the target group are on the same level of knowledge and understanding of the interconnected actions, cluster based “market system information document” was integrated in the capacity building component. These cluster based documents included summary of main findings of the assessment in relation to value chain constraints and opportunities to be taken into account, aligned and integrated with different project’s activities as follows:  Farming practices and animal husbandry;  Constraints related to high cost of cluster based production inputs;  Processing weaknesses and areas of improvement;  Constraints and opportunities related to enabling environment and institutional support;  Value chain cluster based immediate required interventions including interventions related to infrastructure; e.g. roads’ rehabilitation, water infrastructure, natural resources’ management tools, fodder production and grazing lands management, cold chains, etc.  Assessment of existing marketing channels and potential possible linkages to SMEs and private sector;  Market/ consumers demands and preferences on dairy products.

Capacity building themes and topics provided to 7 targeted CBOs/ SMEs: 1. General most relevant capacity building themes: Two capacity building consultants were contracted to cover the below listed identified cross cutting capacity building topics from a market oriented approaches’ perspective:  Access to market system information: this is based on the dissemination of results presented under each cluster summarizing the main results of the Dairy Market system

assessment in a simplified and comprehensive manner; ensuring that CBOs and targeted beneficiaries are aware of project assessments results that has direct impact on their practices. Improvements on CBOs/ SMEs were sensed as in the coming activities including marketing and processing. They were integrated in other capacity building activities. (tasting events and linkages with new dealers and within the exhibitions, connections with new clients and SMEs). This was also sensed on the hygiene/ pricing/ ruling grounds of the internal groups/ packaging/ selection of the marketing channels.  Governance and Aspiration: This includes the role of leadership and legal directions within the different CBOs/ SMEs; how to mobilize different concerned parties, livestock holders, different service providers, private sector, and even government and local authorities; all taking mission, business and operation plans as the base.  Business and management capacity: This part included the most relevant functions influencing the performance of the different target groups from business perspective. It combined the work on business and market oriented approaches but also linked it to CBOs/ SMEs social principles, i.e. ensuring the respect of members and the society as a whole; with special focus on programs linked to local communities (this includes aspects related to restructuring and revision of membership (including fees revision), tasks division and responsibilities of the different members including the board of directors, human resources management, financial management, etc.  Animal husbandry and barn management capacity building activities from VC perspective: built on activities under ER1 & ER2 with more focus on VC. This included all actions related to reduction of cost of production; and the enhancement of quantity and quality of the products during production phase.

2. Capacity building related to food processing: Based on main findings of the Dairy Market System Assessment; food processing areas of enhancements were identified as a cross cutting capacity building themes for all the clusters. These include: hygiene, quality, processing techniques and innovation. Specialized team of 3 experts working on food processing were contracted to implement capacity building activities on food processing. In addition to the general topics; more advanced food processing capacity building and coaching was provided to the top ranked CBOs who received dairy processing unit. This component was coordinated with two main actors: 1) SMEs; 2) marketing specialists; 3) results of the customers’ preferences’ survey carried out by the Dairy Market System Assessment.

The three consultants complemented their areas of expertise; the first provided training on milk sector/ milk composition and how to deal with it from hygienic perspective and on problems and challenges facing the sector. He focused on milk processing in the farm, milk processing in elaborated units, milk processing in the labs, processing units’ operations, yougurt production, labaneh production, cheese production, and innovative products. Second consultant implemented practical demonstrations at the different targeted CBOs and provided them with more elaborated processing techniques that focuses on quality and hygiene while keeping traditional attributes preferred by the consumers. The third consultant provided training on tools to be used in processing provided by the project. He was the one responsible of the design, the technical specifications for the equipment and tools due to his experience in manufacturing knowledge. Moreover he was involved in the testing of the delivered equipment along with carrying out training courses and the overall follow up with the vendors.

As part of the capacity building on processing practical visits were encouraged including:  6 women were selected from the different target groups to participate in a training course in Kerak- Jordan to learn from dairy units run by women from similar back ground (Bedouin) who are producing new products using new processing techniques specifically for sheep and goat dairy products (butter milk, butter, jameed, etc.). The capacity building also focused on hygiene and pasteurization of milk to increase shelf life, reduce the losses and improve the quality, without affecting the processing of the products (mainly cheese). Gained knowledge

was transferred to other women (70 sheep and goat holders; members and non-members at the CBOs) from the targeted communities. These capacity building activities combined theoretical knowledge with practical processing of dairy products with women.  Visits to new manufacturing infrastructures producing new varieties with high quality and hygiene.  Attendance of relevant workshops including Palestinian Standard Institute that defined the trade mark, specifications, lifetime, legal status, etc.

3. Capacity building related to marketing Access to markets (particularly via quality management, packaging, marketing and sales) is the key issue for almost all livestock holders in the project area. Rawasi methodology was based on the fact that in order to improve access to markets, the entire value chain has to function well to satisfy the market demand. This was the base for defining the VC inputs provided to enable the seven CBOs/SMEs to remove key obstacles in the value chain faced by livestock holders in the respective location.

As the marketing component is expected to be a key challenge, this project carried out the capacity building activities for marketing, in addition to marketing activities. Part of the capacity building tasks identified to be carried out by Rawasi marketing specialist and in full coordination with the capacity building specialists is capacity building for the different CBOs/ SMEs on marketing. A general capacity building theme was provided to all CBOs, but more advanced capacity building activities were given to top ranked CBOs/ SMEs reflecting the recommendations of the business plans and the consumers’ survey recommendations (for the selected dairy products: fresh white cheese, boiled white cheese, Yogurt (Laban), Labaneh, Jameed (solid Yogurt), and fresh milk). The general topics identified by the market system assessment can be summarized as follows: preferred marketing channels, marketing concerns (production seasonality, high prices due to high production costs, high competitiveness, unattractive packaging, low local demand, etc.), distribution channels for dairy Products (direct/ middlemen, retailers/ dairy units), pricing, distribution Channels, packaging and labelling, promotional materials, and pricing mechanisms. The training also identified most suitable channels in premium markets, and existing potential linkages and channels fair for both consumers and farmers.

As for marketing activities, the project team focused on the implementation of inter-connected activities that can be summarised as follows: 1. Leveraging PARC’s marketing social enterprise arm “The REEF” which provided selling opportunities (shelves) to the seven CBOs/SMEs in their centralized store in Ramallah. 2. Products were displayed at exhibitions in order to link the seven CBOs/SMEs with hotels, private sector companies, and other customers. 3. Tasting campaigns and displays in 26 most recognized selling points in premium markets (Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron) where rental fees were covered initially by the project and then by the seven CBOs/SMEs themselves. 4. Networking with retailers, dealers and distribution channels. 5. Coordination between CBOs and SMEs through reaching fair agreements related to quantities, delivery timing, whole sale and retail prices, etc.

4. Business Guidance and Coaching This component focuses specific capacity building requirements based on business plans being developed for top ranked CBOs/ SMEs. Based on identified requirements of the different target groups; and in addition to identified capacity building; a more elaborated, focused and intense coaching and mentoring was provided to ensure the implementation of the business plans.

This coaching was carried out by the business development consultant who acted as a source person who connected all the knowledge provided by the different consultants and experts to the target groups. He was able to link theoretical knowledge generated from the dairy market system assessment with the business plan practical implementation steps that built on processing and marketing components; explaining its importance and facilitating its implementation by the different target groups. Through constant coaching; he was able to support connecting CBO with first SMEs, and then other private sector actors, he oversaw the establishment of connections with different vendors and the drafting agreements to organize these connections. It is very important to note that part of coaching activities were dedicated to product development.

During reporting period: 100% completed as capacity-building packages designed and delivered to each of the seven CBOs/SMEs.

Activity 3.4. Provide value chain inputs to the 7 CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises to strengthen livestock holders’ access to markets and optimise their products’ value chain

After quick assessment on the role carried out by the vender (SEC) under this assignment with the different CBOs/ SMEs/ WGs; Rawasi team had to work more on further specifying developed business plans in terms of adaptation to Area C context dairy business requirements, technical needs and specifications of value chain inputs.

Prior to implementation of the business plans, and before investing in suggested value chain inputs (mainly equipment for the dairy units by SEC); Business development specialist and food processing consultant thoroughly reviewed suggested inputs and assessed optimal options that shall ensure expected quality products.

Based on visits to both existing dairy processing units/ manufactures; and after researching the best assemblies and dairy production lines, value chain inputs specifications were further developed for the units to be established. These took into account the uniqueness of Area C (connections to electricity), the capacity of the CBOs/ SMEs to work on dairy products (accessibility to milk as main row production input quantities), maintaining traditional processing attributes while atomizing production processes to ensure better hygiene and quality. The specifications took into account how to smoothly transfer production processes through simplified yet efficient and quality equipment and machines.

Four dairy processing units were designed and provided to selected 4 CBOs. The equipment were custom made taking into account lessons learned from existing models including size of milk, electricity usage, needed maintenance and the complexity of operationalization of the units. The units provided a comprehensive set of functions needed to testing the raw materials (milk quality), processing the milk, packaging and shrinking. The machines provided to the SMEs built on those provided to the CBOs especially when it came to more elaborated packaging and labelling.

Moreover and as part of the provision of VC inputs the units were rehabilitated according to PSI requirements ensuring the locations/ venues are meeting hygiene and quality processing requirements. Please note that these inputs were always done as part of wider capacity building under 3.3 to ensure sustainable and efficient usage of the units.

During Reporting Period: Value chain inputs provided to the seven CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises.

Activity 3.5. Strengthen the capacity of women’s producer groups to market their products

Based on the gender related findings from the preparatory survey, the baseline and the extensive market system analysis, Rawasi selected 50 women from the targeted communities based on their entrepreneurship aptitude and interest in engaging in income generating activities.

Apart from baseline or market assessment, CARE & PARC team conducted field meetings with CBOs' representatives and with community-key informants to identify existing women producers groups. 56 female producers were recognized with entrepreneurship capacities to be further targeted by Rawasi. All 10 formed women groups were linked to targeted CBOs to ensure their sustainability. These linkages will allow them to receive services provided by the CBOs to their beneficiaries including capacity building, access to collective purchase, etc. These women groups were involved in the dairy market system assessment to cover all questions related to women work within the value chain and gender issues.

Customised training packages on entrepreneurship and market awareness were designed, taking into consideration the aspects identified in the gendered market mapping exercise and CARE’s recent “Gender in Agriculture” assessment. Capacity building activities for women groups adopted CARE´s women empowerment framework components as follows:  Capacity building on agency level related to women’s knowledge, skills, confidence, or individual capacity.  Capacity building on relations level, (or a woman’s ability to build relationships and foster mutual support) with another market actor, household or community member, or government agent who can choose whether or not to discriminate against them based on gender or age.  Capacity building on structures level, (or the institutional environment that shapes a woman’s life).

On the top of this capacity building framework, and during the market system assessment activity implementation, technical practical training for selected women (each of the four clusters for two days workshop) was conducted on data gathered through the assessment and covering the following topics: entrepreneurship, competitive advantage of products, assessing feasibility of other income-generating activities, managing teams and initiatives, quality standards and marketing.

High potential women groups in dairy processing & production that were identified by market & VC assessment were targeted in scaling up their business through dairy-processing units. Accompanying the capacity building activities, women groups were targeted with marketing activities similar to the list under activity 3.3. Design a tailor made capacity building package for 7 CBOs/SMEs.

Additionally and as part of exit strategy activities that was implemented by Rawasi, two women groups were provided with additional coaching related the operationalization of the equipment received as part of their dairy units (under activity 3.5). Coaching included clear division of tasks and responsibilities among the different members, the detailed description of raw material sources, functions of the machines, maintaining and identification of marketing channels, and legal status of the unit in the future. As a result of this training, one of the women groups is currently under the process of registration in MoI. It is worth mentioning that the same women group has increased their production capacity reaching 200 Litres/ day. All their production is marketed and it is currently reaching new markets in Nablus, Ramallah, and Jenin.

During reporting period: 100% completed through the identification of women groups, and provision of dairy units for the two top ranked groups.

2.3 Activities that have not taken place

As part of the coordination framework between LbL-i and LbL-f projects; Rawasi project team – and based on official approval of the ECD- and in coordination with FAO and MoA; Activity 2.3.3. Improving farm recording and animal tagging system was modified where CARE replaced the production of animal tags with awareness raising posters. The original activity included the production of animal tags for targeted beneficiaries’ barns; however coordination between the partners and the donor showed that animal tags were going to be produced by LbL-i as part of the animal national identification system. (please note that Rawasi provided beneficiaries with numbering tools under this activity that were needed urgently for barns management and recording).

2.4 Assessment of the Results

Although some project activities faced delays in year1, all planned activities were implemented under the project -with additional 4 months period of NCE- (except for the animal tagging that was replaced with awareness raising materials for the national identification system as agreed with the donor). Data collected, meetings and assessments showed that the project was able to overcome all faced constraints and achieve set ERs fully (except for increasing women participation in boards of targeted CBOs).

The methodology of the program allowing Rawasi to build all its interventions based on evidence gathered from the field- the results of the dairy market system assessment- contributed significantly to maximising the benefits as they were designed to correspond to most significant systemic constraints along the VC; starting from production inputs, production, processing, outbound logistics and ending with sales and marketing chain.

The project was able to strengthen the resilience and increase income of sheep and goat holders, including women and Bedouins. It assisted male and female livestock holders and CBOs to improve their access to and management of natural production inputs (water, grazing land, and fodder). It provided them with comprehensive capacity building to enhance health, quality and productivity of their livestock and improved links to extension services. And it supported them to become more market ready with better returns from increasing the value-added of their products and decreasing the costs of production.

Project activities will not end with the end of the project. They are designed based on needs and are corresponding to identified constraints providing innovative, achievable and scalable solutions that will be valid for years as they provide winning situation for all actors who will continue benefiting from them. Created networks brought together highly committed actors who were able to succeed during project lifetime and will continue afterwards (due to obtaining the skill and the will to do so).

The below section indicates the overall assessment of the activities status, their results, and provide risk mitigation factors. It connects the assessment with the logical framework.

Overall objective to Male and female livestock holders Food security sector PCBS assessments showed that food security slightly improved in WB improve the food security have improved their food security between 2013 and 2014 where the percentage of population under poverty line dropped from and sustainable livelihoods (Food Consumption Score, and 33.2% in 2013 to 29.6% in 2014. of livestock holders, PCBS sex disaggregated) including herders. Specific objective to At least 50% of male and female TARGET: 1000 livestock herders have increased their net income by 10% reaching 830 strengthen the resilience and livestock holders have increased NIS per month (10% increase over 755 NIS). increase income of sheep their net income by at least 10% and goat holders, with a at the end of the project (sex Increase on net income is achieved either through decreasing the cost of the production or specific focus on women and segregated). increasing the production size. Target was fully achieved as income increased from 755 Bedouins. NIS to 1100 NIS for all 2000 farmers (with an increase of 345 NIS/ farmer). Summary of achievements is as follows:

Decrease percentage of purchased water per farmer: 65% The total of water cost before project was 130,000 NIS, and after the project it reached 54,870 NIS, 40 NIS per farmer. (1980 farmers in total)

Cost reduced due to grazing lands prolonged period= 364,930 NIS 4930 NIS/ farmer (73 farmers total)

Total cost reduction in NIS due to fodder introduction = all reducing the total of : 662,400 NIS 1070 NIS/ farmer (619 farmers in total)

Conservation agriculture Seeding rate reduced by 3kg/dunum = 3000 NIS in total 25 NIS/ farmer (120 farmer in total)

Total of 1,144 veterinarian visits over two years of project, saving the amount 68,640 NIS due to veterinary services provided through Rawasi project.

Savings due to medicine monitoring and guidance reached 185,000 NIS over two years (before the project the cost was 340,000 NIS after the project 294,000 NIS the reduction is due to better instructions on medicine usage and facilitation of collective purchase).

Total saving due to decreased mortality rate and abortion reached: 1680 NIS/ farmer/ year (756000 NIS in total 1680 * 450 farmers)

The total of 10% increase in lambs’ meat daily gain due to improved rams’ breeds ( before project 375 gm/ Assaf & 325gm/ Awassi, after project it reached 450 gm/ Assaf& 390 gm/ Awassi). The total of 315 NIS / farmer/ lamb increase in daily weight gain (in total for all farmers= 315*68= 21,420 NIS).

The meaningful participation of Women participation at the CBO level was not significantly increased. It reached only 2%. women in mixed CBOs has This is due to the male dominated sector and the very short period of implementation of the increased by at least 10% at the project in terms of introducing social change. However the following are examples of end of the project. achievements on this indicator:

 Fqqua’a CBO was fully linked to women CBO in the same community and are running the dairy unit jointly. This connection goes beyond providing women employment opportunities as women are part of decision making committee that approves/ selects the projects and initiatives planned to be implemented on community level in Faqqua’a. this committee was formed on the level of the community and involving the two CBOs.  The same is applied on Aqabeh CBO that is currently implementing the project jointly with the women center under the supervision of the village council. The relation is not restricted to provision of women employment but to actual partnership between the two CBOs who take decisions and share implementation on all levels jointly.  Ramoun women group was established by the project. In order to formalize their work, achieving more sustainable results and get more visibility on community level; the group is going to get officially registered as a female cooperative . Project team is going to follow up with them after the end of the project.

17 CBOs have improved their Target fully achieved. The CBOs were intensively trained and are currently acting as socio- capacities and are providing economic hubs that support their members and non-members in the following areas: extension services to their  Technical support in terms of livestock management and animal feed. members  Technical and management roles in terms of natural resources management (mainly water and grazing land)  Collective purchase for medicine and private veterinary services.  Connections with main public actors including MoA and MoL.  Connections with SMEs and PS actors and marketers.  Capacity building (theoretical and practical) as part of the two field school farms.

At least three viable partnerships More than 3 partnerships established between CBOs and SMEs. Rawasi project focused on for marketing between CBOs and assisting the CBOs to establish links not only with the three supported SMEs but also with SMEs additional marketing SMEs -e.g. with al Reef food production Co., Bas Baladi selling point, al Sindibad distribution Co., Bravo supermarket, and New Farm agricultural products Co.- that were not directly supported by the project.

Below is a summary of the attainment of Rawasi expected results:

Assessment of results attainment under ER1: In the project area, inefficient management of natural resources, unsustainable local fodder production, high prices of imported fodder and imposed access and movement restrictions are some of the interrelated problems which impede male and female livestock holders’ livelihoods. All ER1 activities were fully implemented and was able to produce direct and tangible benefits for the CBOs and their members to mitigate these problems. Rawasi provided selected male and female members and leaders of the CBOs a tailor-made training programme to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in sustainable natural resources management, sustainable fodder production and increased access to grazing land. These trained livestock holders passed their experiences on to other members of their respective CBOs and communities. Demonstration sites for water harvesting and sustainable fodder production provided concrete examples to livestock holders.

Through ER1activities livestock holders have achieved the following (please note that the below analysis are fully based on data collected from the field through PARC & ICARDA technicians). It does not replace the reporting on logframe that will follow in the below section under each of the ERs):  Access to water: The total of 330 HHs with flock size of 91,433 have consistent and affordable access to water, due to the rehabilitation and construction of water resources infrastructure. They were also trained on how to use water more efficiently for agricultural and livestock purposes. Below is a summary of quantitative results: size of water conservatoires/ storage volume = 12,021M3. 10,190 M3 rainwater harvesting cisterns rehabilitate (208 M3 * 49) + 1,741 M3 cement and metallic pools + 90 metallic water tanks (per one usage only, please refer to actual collected water in point below) excluding water networks & micro catchment systems. The size of savings of water cost due to gathered water using different water catchment techniques: 84,130 NIS. All these interventions contributed to decreasing the percentage of purchased water by 65% (with total estimate of 54,870 NIS savings).

 Access to grazing land: Have consistent and affordable access to grazing land, due to their capacity to engage relevant stakeholders to collectively manage these lands and due to the rehabilitation and construction of agricultural roads: the total of animal heads benefiting from the new grazing lands reached 11,050 heads. Total increase in grazing days reaches 50% grazing days per farmer (average from 70 days before project reaching 105 days after the project when counting additional surface planted by the project). Baseline showed that the total duration of grazing days reached 2,715 days. After the intervention of the project and due to conservative agriculture activities, planting grazing lands, and management of grazing lands; the total number of grazing days reached 4,130 days. Cost reduced due to grazing lands prolonged period in general reaches 364,930 NIS.

 Fodder production: Have increased their local fodder production, due to their improved knowledge, skills and willingness to collectively adopt sustainable fodder production techniques. 8,949 beneficiaries (owning 12,344 heads of sheep and goat) were supported to grow their animal feed. The total of produced fodder in tons reached 13,349.1 tons (increase on top of originally produced fodder + access to new lands/ hydroponic/ alternative feed). New varieties introduced were not only marked with high productivity, but also with the potential to re-use them in coming seasons. (Percentage of increased fodder production/ farmer on average/ year due to high yielding forage seeds = +70%. Before the project the average of annual production by farmer was 1,557 Kg. after the project it reached 2,809 Kg). The overall total of cost reduction in NIS - due to fodder introduction reached: 662,400 NIS.

Summary of ER1 attainment as per log frame: ER 1: Male and At least 75% of male and TARGET= 870 Beneficiaries. female livestock female livestock holders 2,090 male and female livestock holders (among which 990 females) have access to water = 10 water harvesting systems holders and CBOs have access to water at (*10 beneficiaries) + 50 rainwater harvesting cisterns rehabilitate (* 10 beneficiaries) + 10 cement pools (* 20 beneficiaries) have improved the end of the project (sex + 30 metallic water tanks (*15 beneficiary) + 2 water distribution points (total of 840 beneficiary). Collective ownership is access to and disaggregated) adopted as part of sustainability assurance. Follow up and management is carried out by the CBO at each of the locations. management of water, grazing land, and fodder. The size of grazing land TARGET= 14,525 dunums under collective management has 15,768 dunums of grazing lands planted= 150 donums of grazing lands by water micro catchment systems (10*15 increased by 25% at the dunums) + 3930 dunums planted with high yielding forage seeds + 200 dunums using conservation agriculture machine+ end of the project (sex 1,738 dunums collective management through project + 170 dunums of land panted through water networks + 9,580 dunums disaggregated) grazing lands reached due to agricultural roads.

At least 50% of male and TARGET: 470 beneficiaries with 180 tons increase in production female livestock holders have sustainably Achievement: 8,949 beneficiaries reached with total of 13,349.1 tons increase. increased their fodder production by 15% at the 8,949 beneficiaries supported to grow their animal feed (480 female livestock holders – out of which 46 female headed end of the project (sex households) in the targeted communities : 940 beneficiaries of water activities mainly micro-catchment & water networks disaggregated) (370 donums) + 7,320 beneficiaries accessed to grazing areas because of roads rehabilitation (9,580 donums) + 39 beneficiaries under conservation agriculture planting 200 dunums + 255 beneficiaries benefiting from 10 silage and feed black demonstrations (12.7 Tons)+ 60 livestock herders have benefited from green barley production through the two hydroponic stations linked to field school farms (19.4 tons) + 220 beneficiaries of high yielding forage seeds (average of 340 tons from 600 donums).

Total fodder in tons produced= 13,349.1 tons (increase on top of originally produced fodder + access to new lands/ hydroponic/ alternative feed). Water network and water harvesting system= 204 tons (370 *2.8) Grazing lands quantities (estimated)= 12,445 tons (1.3 green forages * 9,580 dunums) Conservation agriculture demos= 52 tons Tons from demonstrations (silage/ feed blocks) = 12.7 Tons. Tons from high yielding seeds = 220* 280 kg= 616 tons. Production of 2 hydroponic stations built, total production 19.4 tons (around 9700 Kg of green fodder over 40 days per unit).

Assessment of results attainment under ER 2: This component of the project focuses on improving the health of livestock, increasing the quality and quantity of livestock related products and better access to extension and veterinary services. While activities of ER 1 enabled male and female livestock holders to produce high quality input for their livestock, activities of ER 2 enabled them to produce high quality dairy products.

One of the most important systemic constraints affecting the livestock production is poor production practices used by the farmers, poor access to and quality of veterinary and extension services, poor farm management and animal husbandry and inefficient livestock related processing methods; which results in low quality and quantity of dairy and other livestock related products. PARC and ICARDA offered selected male and female livestock holders and leaders of the CBOs a tailor-made training programme to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in farm management, animal husbandry and processing. In a second phase, these trained livestock holders passed their knowledge and experience on to other members of their respective CBOs. This dissemination and multiplication was integral to CBOs development into extension service providers. All members of CBOs were involved in testing new techniques in model field school farms. These activities were complimented by newly established links with government and private veterinary and extension service providers. Through the activities under Expected Result 2 the CBOs and their members were able to:

 Have access to better veterinary and extension services that are appropriate for male and female livestock holders, due to improved capacity of CBOs to provide services and established linkages with government and private service provides as well as set up of accessible extension service hubs. Total of 1062 beneficiaries improved their access to public and private veterinary services. 450 farmers rehabilitated their barns and improved their barn management animal husbandry practices through extension team of the project and trained leader farmers from their CBOs. The total of heads reached through this activity reached 97,036 heads (around 22% of the total livestock in the area).

 Have diversified and increased their dairy processing, due to their improved knowledge, skills and willingness to collectively apply new processing techniques. Dairy production at farm level was increased due to two reasons: 1) increasing lactation days (through techniques that were disseminated to farmers); 2) due to decreasing losses while collecting and processing the milk (wasted milk/ spoiled milk was decreased by 2-5% in the locations); and, 3) decrease in mortality rates (for both abortion and post natal death- by almost 11.5%).

Summary of ER2 attainment as per log frame:

ER 2: Male and female At least 75% of male and TARGET: 1500 beneficiaries have access to vet services livestock holders have female livestock holders have More than 1500 beneficiaries improved access to vet services: enhanced health, quality access to veterinary and and productivity of their extension services at the end of livestock and improved the project (sex segregated) Total of 1062 beneficiaries: 482 beneficiaries have been provided with vet services +580 beneficiaries through links to extension services. CBOs grouping services.

2000 beneficiaries linked to MoA public vet services/ visited / and provided with vet services and farm log books.

450 barns rehabilitated beneficiaries were provided with project extension visits to improve animal conditions.

14CBOs are linked to private veterinary companies (medicine vendors). This includes facilitation of reduced cost deals.

51 leading farmers trained, implement good practices and act as focal points with their CBOs and communities.

At least 50% of male and TARGET: 1000 farmers enhance dairy production by 15% (reaching 22,080 litter) female livestock holders have increased their dairy production Enhanced dairy production is due to enhanced milk production. 1120 farmers increased their milk by at least 15% at the end of the production (due to decrease in wasted milk and increase in lactation period) to reach 28,060 litters per year. project (sex segregated) 450 farmers improved their milk production by 45,000 litter per season because of increasing of lactation days from 96 days to 101 days after the project (total of 2160 litters = 450 farmers* 0.96 litter* 5 days)

670 farmers decreased seasonal milk loses due to new milking techniques and use of stainless steel tool reached 13,400 litters (10 litter/ farmer/ season)

Abortion and death rate of TARGET: decrease abortion rate and mortality rates by 12% newly born sheep and goats has decreased by at least 20% at the 12% decrease in mortality rate due to capacity building/ barn rehabilitation/ access to vet services and end of the project connection to MoA extension. Before the project: the average of mortality was 4 lambs. Through project interventions mortality rate decreased to reach 3 lambs/ year.

11 % decrease in newborn mortality rate, before intervention the mortality rate was 5 newborns died out of 26 deliveries. The project was able to reduce this rate to reach 4 newborn mortality.

Assessment of results attainment under ER 3: After addressing systemic constraints related to production inputs and production practices, Rawasi focused on building marketing capacity and establishing market linkages. A first step towards successful marketing is to be able to identify market demands and consumers preferences. The project captured this 44 through an initial and in-depth market system analysis, the results of which affected the design of the entire project. Through this analysis, seven high- performing, high-potential CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises were selected to fulfil the function of “hubs” for marketing information and service provision. They were supported to act as a chain between the marketing channels and their members (who would not be able to reach required dairy quality if worked individually). Through tailor-made support they were able to improve their quality control, packaging and marketing practices. Support for the establishment of market linkages was provided through existing market channels of CARE and particularly PARC; in addition to establishing new links. The seven CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises were provided with ongoing follow up to provide them with information, services and market access to the broader livestock farming community, particularly in Area C but benefitting all surrounding communities and the broader sector. Furthermore, they were enabled to directly work with livestock holders, and gained knowledge and skills to enter new markets, manage risks, negotiate and diversify, and adapt to market changes. An estimate 500 farmers are linked to the 7 selected CBOs and SMEs.

As there are limited opportunities for women’s leadership in mixed cooperatives and producer groups, as a second focus of this component; women’s producer groups were established and supported to become more entrepreneurial and involved in more profitable activities. Doing so; women from all over the project area had the opportunity to come together and have a space for self-expression and develop joint initiatives. Through the different interventions; women were provided with: 1) community visibility focusing on their economic potential 2) open broader space for their community level participation, and, 3) enhanced bargaining power at work with dealers, household and community level.

The comprehensive approach adopted under this component allowed farmers (including women) to access new technology, resources and infrastructure as well as effective leadership and business skills that better enabled them to produce dairy products that bring significant incomes into the household. Activities under ER3 helped building a better understanding of market opportunities and dynamics.

CBOs and their members were able to:  Have better access to livestock market information, due to improved capacity of seven CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises to provide tailor made and timely assessment of the relevant livestock markets and access to other government and private services. The total of 2,100 farmers were reached and provided with market information and consumer demands. This shaped the processing interventions and allowed them to better correspond to market demands.  Have improved their income from dairy products, due to improved capacity of seven CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises to provide tailor made marketing services, access to relevant local and national markets and ability to appropriately respond to market opportunities. Due to activities implemented under ER3. The average of 14% of income increase was achieved for the 4 CBOs (and their members), and 12% for the 3 SMEs/ month during the season. Individual farmers also increased their net income through connecting them with SMEs that purchased their milk with 22% increase in profit that they were achieving prior to the project. Viable scalable marketing networks and channels were established through the project linking CBOs and their members with more feasible marketing options (due to value additions on quality including hygiene/ packaing/ labelling/ consistency in quality/ etc. Summary of ER3 attainment as per log frame:

ER 3: Male and female At least 75% of male and TARGET: 1400 farmers accessed market information livestock holders have female livestock holders have better returns from access to livestock market The total of 2100 male (among which 120 female) and female livestock holders have access to increasing the value-added information at the end of the livestock market information of their products project (sex disaggregated) 10 Cluster based dissemination workshops were implemented based on market data generated from the assessment. More than 2000 farmers attended the 10 workshops (average 20)

Moreover, the technical capacity building for the CBOs and women groups included sessions on dairy market system assessment results (not less than additional 100)

The total of 72 visits by 2 marketing and business development specialist were carried out for each of the selected CBOs to follow up on marketing component including the application of market system assessment recommendations and market information.

Seven CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises are applying their TARGET: 7 CBOs/ SMEs apply their business plans and increatse net income by 10% business plans and have increased their net income by 7 CBOs/SMEs and their beneficiaries adapting market data into their production and business at least 10% at the end of the plans. This was verified through the on-going visits/monitoring of project team and the business project component consultants.

The average of 14% of income increase was achieved for the 4 CBOs 12% for the 3 SMEs/ month during the season.

The average dairy net income by the CBOs/ month during the season was 14,050 NIS. After the intervention the income reached 16,150 NIS (increase between 10-20% depending on the CBO previous production size)

Individual beneficiaries were linked to marketing channels that provided them with up to 22% increase on originally sold prices. This includes the following:

 Framers sold formerly milk for 3.6NIS / litre - through Rawasi deals were closed on 4.3NIS/litre (increase of 19% but this includes consistent milk provision throughout the year)  Farmers sold formerly fresh white cheese for 13- 14.5 NIS/kg, throug-Rawasi fresh cheese id sold for 16- 17.5NIS/kg (increase of 21% on white cheese due to pasteurisation)  Due to provided processing machines, farmers were encouraged to produce boiled white cheese with better packaging attributes for 25-27NIS/kg (an increase of 15% as boiled cheese was originally sold at the price 23 NIS in average). This is due to the enhanced packaging attributes/ the hygiene

qualities (pasteurization)/ prolonged shelf life of the products.  New marketing channels were opened to farmers where their sales reached 7,500 in total (throughout the season)  On Rawasi marketing events total sales reached 12,500 NIS (once and during the season)

At least 10 women groups are applying their business plans 10 women groups formed, business plans for dairy production were developed and are part of their and have increased their net implementation. These business plans are considered the base of their current work allowing them to income by at least 10% at the know what are the breakeven points, size of work required, resources needed and pricing system. end of the project Due to the fact that these women groups were fully established by the project and do not have joint work on income before; all income that was generated was due to the project interventions (individual efforts by women member at the group were carried out prior to project and at HH level)

More concrete follow up was carried out for the two top ranked women groups that were supported with dairy units through the project. The income in 2015/2016 season reached 6,600 NIS/ month during season. This size of sales was on local communities level (please note that the next step for these women groups is to get officially registered, only then they can be linked to more formal marketing channels and SMEs)

2.5 Outcome on beneficiaries and target groups On beneficiaries level: more than 2090 sheep and goat holder households in 30 locations in Northern and Central areas in West Bank particularly Area C; 12,000 (individuals and members of 17 CBOs), and all livestock holders in target locations in general

Technical: As an immediate result of the project, livestock holders in the target areas have access to sustainable water resources infrastructure, acquired skills and knowledge to improve the quality of breeds and the health of animals as well as skills in processing techniques and improved processing systems.

In the medium term, it is expected that sustainable production techniques practices are continuously applied and that water systems (e.g. rainwater harvesting) are used, maintained and managed collectively by CBOs, thereby ensuring the best use of existing limited resources.

The long term impact on their livelihoods is that increased harvest contributes to reduced dependency on market prices and higher quality production, processing and marketing enables livestock holders to sustainably retain a higher value of their product.

Economic: Working through CBOs has proven to help livestock holders reduce transaction costs and allowed them to increase economies of scale through collective purchasing and/or selling. Service provision, collective purchasing or selling, and increasing the value added while utilizing CBOs as hubs not only increases the feasibility of the initiatives but also strengthens the community ownership thus increasing sustainability and impact for the communities at large. The different activities are replicable and sustainable and customised to Area C requirement. They contributed significantly to the decrease of cost of production for farmers.

At the end of the project, CBOs were functioning sustainably on the basis of sound management systems, providing market information to local communities and serving as hubs for service provision. In the medium term, one of the major indicators to measure the project’s success will be the increased moreover through project activities; they were able to increase their (and their members’) income due to added value dairy products. They were introduced to business partnerships with other SMEs/ private sector actors who provided them with better trading deals.

Social As an immediate result of the project, the capacities of livestock holders to collectively produce, process and market their products were improved. The project adopted a participatory approach, sensitive to gender imbalances and social exclusion. In the medium term, the project expected that more livestock holders embrace the idea of working as a group, based on demonstrated advantages and capacities built though the project. A longer-term goal is the full acceptance of women as livestock holders across all stages of the value chain – the project contributed towards it by actively encouraging women’s meaningful participation in mixed CBOs, formation of women’s CBOs as well as addressing women in activities/initiatives. Through capacities built, negotiation and management mechanisms set up, livestock holders’ access to grazing land, water resources and fodder was improved in the long term. All project activities take into account the nature of livelihoods of mobile Bedouin populations (e.g. mobile water tanks, collection and distribution points, cluster approach).

On target group level: 17 community based organizations (CBOs) serving 12,000 people (50 % female); 3 small/medium enterprises (SMEs) and social enterprises.

Technical: 17 CBOs are currently acting as socio-economic hubs as they were trained on interlinked training topics including: management/ governance/ gender/ marketing/ etc. 51 of their leader members are now considered as source person as they were intensively trained and coached by project team. They

48 were also able to transfer their knowledge to other community members -already- and will continue doing so specially on technical themes related to barn managent, water management, fodder and grazing land management.

Policy level: Access and movement restrictions as well as their impact on livestock holders’ livelihoods were documented and used to advocate for increased protection of the extremely vulnerable population in military zones in Area C. As a long term goal, the project contributed to and advocates for the realisation of Bedouin and other livestock holders’ right to food – through secured access to land and water resources. The project used evidence such as case studies, audio and video documentation to raise awareness of the international community and national authorities on the rights of the target groups during the project and beyond its lifecycle. Documentation of violation will be through community members themselves who built sustainable links to active organisations, HR organizations, and decision makers throughout the project.

Please see Annex II: Video Documentation or refer to the following links: https://www.care.at/projekte/palaestinensische-gebiete-verbesserung-der-ernaehrungssituation-von- viehhirten/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxbA1FARjg&feature=youtu.be

2.6 List of materials

Below is a list of educational materials distributed to farmers:  Silage as Alternative Feed (1000 copies in Arabic + 400 copies in English)  Concentrated Animal Feed (1000 copies)  Hydroponic Planting (1000 copies + 400 copies in English)  Conservation Agriculture (1000 copies + 400 copies in English)  Field Crops and Promising Yields (1000 copies + 400 copies in English)  Water Harvesting Systems (1000 copies + 400 copies in English)  Animal Diseases (1000 copies)  Flock Management (1000 copies)

Please see Annex III: Sample of Silage Brochure

2.7 List of contracts above 10,000 EUR

At the beginning of the project, Rawasi team developed a full procurement plan that was reviewed by CARE procurement team to make sure that selected procurement methods corresponds to EU regulations. The below list summarizes contracts above 10.000€; awarded for the implementation of the action during the reporting period:

Action Contract Award procedure # of Activity Name of contractor amount € followed contract Advertising in local R1.1.4. Build two hydroponic 25,043.758 newspaper – closed Abu Fulan company pilot stations enveloped tender Advertising in local R1.3.3. Provision of metallic 37,369.925 newspaper – closed Kaibni Blacksmith water tank trailers (22 tanks) enveloped tender Advertising in local R1.3.3. Provision of metallic 15,952.379 newspaper – closed Kaibni Blacksmith water tank trailers (8 tanks) enveloped tender R1.3.4. Construction of water Advertising in local distribution points and 153,291.28 newspaper – closed AL- Qasaba Company promotion of good water enveloped tender management (9.25 km) R1.3.4. Construction of water Advertising in local distribution points and Mosa Abu Hatab 10,306.57 newspaper – closed promotion of good water Company enveloped tender management (0.75 km) Advertising in local R1.5. Construction & rehab. 46,823.187 newspaper – closed Al Hanani Company 1 Work of agricultural roads (6.0km) enveloped tender Advertising in local R1.5. Construction & rehab 19,814.81 newspaper – closed Al-Qasaba company of agricultural roads (1.5 km) enveloped tender Advertising in local R1.5. Construction & rehab 13,564.81 newspaper – closed Abu-Ghazaleh company of agricultural roads (1.5km) enveloped tender Advertising in local R1.5. Construction & rehab 9,481.48 newspaper – closed Dar Al-Bena'a company of agricultural roads (1.0 km) enveloped tender Advertising in local R2.5. Establish two model 153,791.67 Al-Saif company newspaper – closed livestock field school farms 14,520.37 Al-Hamdeya Company enveloped tender R3.4. Provide grants to the 7 CBOs/SMEs/social Advertising in local enterprises Al-Saif company 74,063.55 newspaper – closed R3.5. Strengthen women (rehabilitation works) enveloped tender producers’ groups to market their products R1. Multiplication and Request for Al-Amaneh Grinder 18,995.22 distribution of seeds Quotations

37,657.585 Advertising in local Al Midraj Company 2 Supplies R1.4. Provision of high- newspaper – closed yielding forage seeds 12,950.93 Agronomist Co. enveloped tender R2.3.2. Optimising fertility 49,951.625 Advertising in local Al Waha - FaysalBadarin and reproduction newspaper – closed

enveloped tender R2.3.4. Hygienic milking, Advertising in local collection and processing of 20,235.888 newspaper – closed Al Hasad Company dairy products (250 units) enveloped tender R2.3.4. Hygienic milking, Advertising in local collection and processing of 22,894.618 newspaper – closed Al Hasad Company dairy products (250 units) enveloped tender R2.3.4. Hygienic milking, Advertising in local collection and processing of 26,107.41 newspaper – closed Spring Company dairy products (212 units) enveloped tender

R2.3.4. Hygienic milking, Advertising in local collection and processing of 12,629.63 newspaper – closed TechnoGreen Company dairy products (220 units) enveloped tender

R3.1. Conduct a market Advertising in local SEC (Small-Enterprise assessment of sheep and 28,433.638 newspaper – closed Center) dairy products enveloped tender R5.2.4 Needs assessments for 17 CBOs/SMEs/social enterprise Advertising in local SEC (Small-Enterprise R3.2. Design a business plans 52,777.8 newspaper – closed Center) for each of the 7 high enveloped tender potential CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises R3.4. Provide grants to the 7 a. Al Hasad Company CBOs/SMEs/social enterprises b. ElectroNihad 186,324.07 Company 67,157.41 Advertising in local R3.5. Strengthen women newspaper – closed (dairy machines) producers’ groups to market 11,715.74 enveloped tender a. Al-Meraj Company their products 12,075.00 b. Al-Shakhsheer Co. (office equipments) R3.5. Strengthen women Advertising in local producers’ groups to market Al Nasher Company 34,286.11 newspaper – closed their products enveloped tender (Market campaign)

2.8 Sustainability of the action

The design of Rawasi project took into account the adoption of comprehensive model that created a small scale enabling environment for the farmers to achieve better livelihoods. As part of the implementation of the project, an exit strategy was developed where clear definition of roles and responsibilities, transfer of assets took place. All activities under this exit strategy made sure that partners are aware of main tasks that they need to carry out in order to sustain the project.

In general intervention design took into account the following:  Investment in capacity building for beneficiaries, CBOs, SMEs that provides long term skills. Trainings allowed the three main categories to shift towards more sustainable solutions when it came to innovations/ natural resource management/ production methods which has developed quality and improved their access to market and eventually their livelihoods.

 Project approach to target CBOs instead of targeting individuals directly increases capacities of CBOs and creates the bases for better understanding of the needs of their members during Rawasi and beyond. This also increased ownership of the whole process and therefore worked towards maintaining its results.  Adopt new innovative methods and techniques that are usable throughout the project and in the future. This includes the water harvesting and the animal high yield forage seeds. For technical aspects farmers were involved in the implementation of the water harvesting sites and were coached on potential follow up needed to ensure the sustainability of the established locations. As for the seeds; the team intentionally selected species that can be used/ planted through more than one season as in the case of millet.  Although Rawasi was implemented over 28 months only, awareness raising and participatory field days affected the attitudes of beneficiaries that were positively changed especially when it came to agricultural practices and women inclusion.  Investment in capacity building via a peer to peer approach enhanced solidarity and collaborative learning from within the communities, and ensures crowding in by direct interaction between benefited farmers and other farmers who haven’t been targeted by the project.  Due to better engagement in innovative and viable marketing channels; CBOs are able to generate sufficient income to finance their future activities within two years. The project followed two key economic strategies for sustainable economic impact: 1) the integration of business-oriented mechanisms and approaches throughout the value chain and amongst CBOs (market driven value chain optimisation rather than donor/INGO driven, integrating feasibility and business planning, leveraging partnership models, etc.); and 2) the adoption of a regional cluster based approach for value chain optimisation rather than adopting one size that fits all approach and establishment of CBO/SME/social enterprise “hubs” per cluster.

2.9 Mainstreaming cross cutting issues

The project featured a strong focus on civil society capacity building. The consortium facilitated the establishment of particular CBO-led hubs ensuring good governance principles are taken into account to deliver essential different services (extension/ market related/ innovations/ etc.) to the male and female livestock holders. The idea of collectively producing, processing and marketing livestock- related products will be fostered.

Ensuring gender equality was underpinned all results and activities. Although women are significantly involved in milking, milk processing, fodder production or lambing, they have limited access to appropriate extension services and control and ownership of livestock assets. The project not only aimed to increase the participation of women in the CBOs and in all stages along the livestock value chain, but also strived to increase their decision-making power at household and community level through implementation of stand-alone activities and activities related to women groups formation. This was achieved by conducting a gendered analysis of needs, constraints and roles in livestock related processing; ensuring that extension services reach women and meet their needs and priorities (e.g. trainings took place in sensitive environments that allowed women to access and share information); supporting women’s CBOs and social enterprises in implementing business and marketing plans; and facilitating household discussion about division of labour.

Although evidence-based advocacy is part of ER 1, it constitutes an important cross-cutting component as a key intervention strategy throughout. In line with CARE’s advocacy strategy, it focused on all aspects of access and movement restrictions that male and female livestock holders encounter in the West Bank. Evidence gathered showed the impact of these restrictions on the livelihoods of the livestock holders. It was key to work closely with the NRC and to communicate on detected cases as in this way the demolition orders were put on hold and by now not conducted.

The project had positive impact on the environment as scarce resources were used significantly more efficiently. New techniques were employed to enhance soil preservation and to use effectively agricultural by-products thus mitigation political/structural but also climate change related challenges.

2.10 Monitoring & Evaluation

A result oriented monitoring and evaluation system that provided relevant and accurate information on progress towards outcomes for reporting purposes, decision-making and sharing with interested stakeholders.

In general, main characteristics of the M&E framework can be summarised as follows:  Gender sensitive & outcome oriented project monitoring system: A gender sensitive project monitoring system was developed involving all the partners to regularly monitor the progress made towards the targeted results and outcomes. This involved an annual revision of the intervention hypotheses together with target groups and a bi-annual monitoring of progress towards outputs. Gender sensitive means that power imbalances identified in the baseline were monitored and that sex disaggregated data was collected throughout the process. The project also monitored and documented participatory processes in working with the target groups and between partners and share the best practices observed with stakeholders at different levels. An important aspect of the results oriented monitoring system was monitoring how developments on the political and economic context are affecting progress towards the outcomes.  Tracking of Economic indicators related to income generation/increase in net income/ VC activities/ involvement of market actors, etc.  Regular reports and joint field visits: Regular reports were prepared, joint field visits (by CARE and its partner and other stake holders like other LbL projects, ECD and MoA) were held to observe and monitor progress in the field, and to promote joint reflection and learning.  Exit Strategy: The exit strategy was taken into account starting from the needs assessment and preparation phase. A detailed action plan was developed during the inception phase indicating the transfer of assets and roles and responsibilities to ensure sustainable impact by the livestock holders, the CBOs, the MoA and the SMEs.  Lessons learned workshop: at the end of the workshop a lessons learned workshop was carried out with all actors trying to identify areas of enhancements and areas that we should be building upon.  Mid- term & Final evaluation: An external mid-term and final evaluation were conducted to identify the project progress and analyse lessons learned for future actions.

Rawasi team agreed on the monitoring and evaluation system of the project since the launching/ inception phase. Tasks were reviewed and roles ad responsibilities were divided among the three partners. Logical framework was updated in a form of a data collection sheet that contains source of data to be gathered. Also the results of the baseline were integrated in the log frame, allowing the project team to calculate the exact targets to be achieved.

Furthermore, the excel sheet was updated with questions based on which data have been collected and the frequency of data collection defined (depending on the season). A list of questions was integrated into the application forms used in the selection process for all activities to allow the team to better reflect the change before and after the interventions. ICARDA was also involved in the revision of the monitoring and evaluation tracking sheets from a scientific perspective especially when it comes to calculating quantities of water, fodder and animal productivity.

Based on the results of the mid-term review, the following actions were introduced to the monitoring and evaluation system:

 The monthly reporting sheet was changed to allow for more frequent data collection and analysis. The system was connected to CARE´s Impact and Learning data base that will be accessible to EU in the coming reporting period.  Deciding on source of data: 2/3 of the gathered data was gathered directly from the beneficiaries, who received more than one intervention and 1/3 was from those benefiting from one activity. This allowed the team to learn about the results targeting beneficiaries with multiple interventions as a comprehensive production package (fodder, animal husbandry, production and market linkages). This system was also the base for selecting beneficiaries for the final evaluation.  The final evaluation was carried out by HRD Consulting Co. and focused on assessing Rawasi’s achievements and performance against a clear set of criteria (relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability). It also provided lessons learned and recommendations to improve future programming as well as opportunities for scale-up or replication. It is worth mentioning that assessment with beneficiaries who were targeted in more than one intervention showed that the project is more likely to be sustainable over the coming years in their cases. This is due to the fact that working with them on more than one stage in the VC (pre-production, production, processing and marketing stages) allowed them to be more ready for markets and to better connect with value chains in terms increasing their net income and get better linkages with the CBOs and the SMEs (not only the quality and quantity of produce, but also the competitive attributes of their dairy products).

Please see Annex IV: External Final Evaluation Report.

2.11 Lessons learned

Towards the end of the project the consortium implemented a two day lessons learned workshop that focused on areas of improvements and areas to build upon. Below is a summary of the main findings:

First lesson: Strengthening the steadfastness of livestock breeders is largely dependent on improving their households’ income and access to services Bolstering food security of households in politically and socio-economically vulnerable communities where access to basic services such as electricity, water, transportation, health and education is particularly problematic, as is the case in Area C communities in the West Bank, requires the concerted effort of development programs and interventions implemented by all developmental stakeholders with those of the State. Such concerted effort should aim to ensure that the pre- requisites for development interventions are met, including access to basic social services and infrastructure. Where such pre-requisites are not fully met, it is crucial for economic empowerment programmes aiming to sustainably increase the income and improve the livelihood conditions and steadfastness of vulnerable livestock breeders’ and their households to integrate the following approaches and strategies:

 Principally target medium-scale livestock breeders as this category of breeders is the category that is most likely to effectively benefit from economic empowerment interventions and witness significant impact. Large-scale breeders usually have access to resources that enable them to remain resilient and steadfast over time. Small-scale, subsistence breeders, in general, are destitute and in need of social protection services to be able to effectively benefit from economic empowerment interventions. For many of these breeders, transformation from subsistence to commercial breeding is nearly impossible as most lack the time and human resources needed for this purpose.

 Strengthen social responsibility and inclusion through engaging local activists in a participatory development approach that fosters an inclusive social movement, capable of reflecting the common needs, aspirations and goals of the local community as a whole. This approach should facilitate joint action, collaboration and individual development of women and other vulnerable groups, including supporting champions of change to form and establish associations and cooperatives that may help them in responding to their economic and social needs. As part of this approach CARE enhances the development of social enterprises, that are CBOs or cooperatives that are producing for the market but on the same time able to support their members with income generation, capacity building and support services.  Strengthen regular communication with the State of Palestine and international organizations with the view of engaging these organizations in facilitating humanitarian access and development work in the Area C communities, as well as mobilizing increased support to development activities in Area C, particularly on infrastructure development and on sharing know-how, experiences and data gathered to enhance synergies of the actions throughout the region.  Lobby duty bearers within the institutions of the State of Palestine and international organizations to meet their various obligations towards livestock breeders. More specifically, advocate for improvements in the governing programs and services provided in Area C, where social and economic rights, such as those related to work, movement, freedom, education, health, and livelihood, become enshrined in practice. As part of this effort, lobby for more responsive and Area C context-specific policies and services in the domains of agricultural taxes, social protection, employment generation for youth and women, transportation, housing, and agricultural extension services and provide special attention to those entities that are able to deliver a social value added to the local communities (development and support for social enterprises).  The adoption of innovative husbandry and farm management practices and technologies by breeders (firstly on CBOs level with spill overs on individual herders level) should be achieved through demonstrations and the success is a function of three factors, namely: i) relevance and adequacy of the introduced innovations to the local socio-economic and environmental context in which they are introduced, ii) level of engagement of lead breeders and community leaders in the design and implementation of demonstrations; and iii) number of demonstrations implemented in the targeted community. The greater the relevance, engagement, and number of demonstration, the greater the uptake levels. The selection process of partner breeders to implement innovations should thus be designed with community participation. Selection criteria should include, inter alia, interest in innovation, preparedness to promote the results, willingness and capacity to implement innovation (including suitability of farm location for implementation of innovations, and capacity to document results), and openness to sharing results with others.  In planning the project interventions targeting the most marginalized and vulnerable communities, special attention should be given to allocating adequate resources (time, human, and financial) for all project activities in general, and for those involving promotion of innovative solutions in particular. During implementation, mechanisms should be put in place to ensure that capacity building is applied in practice as this is has immediate consequences for effectiveness and sustainability of results. The success of activities aiming to promote innovative technologies in the livestock sectors largely rests on ensuring that adequate time is devoted to the implementation and dissemination of these technologies, as well as on the involvement of a multidisciplinary team of livestock and market experts in the promotion of the said innovations.  Developing the sheep and goats value chain in marginalized communities is a long-term process that should begin with an inception phase during which a team of experts undertakes a comprehensive analysis of the livestock market system dynamics and the sheep and goats value chain, and identifies intervention strategies at various levels of the value chain that could enhance value chain performance and growth, thereby improving breeders incomes. Ideally, analysis of value chain bottlenecks and growth potentials and opportunities requires

the involvement of a multi-disciplinary team of experts (social, economic, enterprise, and gender) to ensure that breeders remain a central focus of the analysis and intervention strategies. Sufficient time and financial resources should thus be allocated to the value chain analysis, including the validation of its results and recommendations with stakeholders.

Second lesson: The value added that organizational partnerships bring to program management and leadership is strengthened by clarity of roles in program implementation and policies

Assigning clear roles to program partners, whereby the technical, administrative and finance staff of partner organizations are involved in program implementation contributes to enhancing accountability of results and strengthens program ownership among partner organizations. This model of partnership is a better alternative that rely on project management units (PMU) which tend to alienate PMU staff from their organizations. The following lessons from Rawasi’s model can be leveraged by future programs to enhance the effectiveness of partnerships:

 Joint program planning and monitoring by program partners adds value to the partnership. In the case of Rawasi, this was done through: i) a planning workshop at the start of the project, during which detailed implementation and monitoring plans were formulated jointly by the three partner organizations; and ii) regular planning and monitoring workshops during implementation took stock and assessed progress and if necessary modified plans. The effectiveness of these workshops is largely dependent on the level to which the different partners provide data on progress and results on a timely basis. This creates also a precondition for a quality monitoring and evaluation framework.  The presence of a project partner with both local and regional experience in applied agricultural research, and has a strong relationship with the Ministry of Agriculture is a great value added. ICARDA complemented the ecosystem and business development, grant management and gender mainstreaming experience of CARE and the grassroots and value chain development track record of PARC.  Allocation of human resources to the project should be based on an in-depth analysis of the workload for each project function, particularly for administrative functions related to accounting and procurement. Standard partial allocations should be avoided to the extent possible. Moreover, careful analysis should be undertaken during the planning stages to assess the need for integrating technical staff from the Ministry of Agriculture into the project’s management structure to improve efficiency and sustainability prospects and mainstream good practices. Finally, when recruiting external consultants, due diligence should be exercised to ensure that those selected bring value added to the project, and have the technical capacities, experience and credentials being sought by the project. Hence, evaluation of prospective consultants should be largely based credentials and experience of the individual consultant(s) as opposed to the common practice of evaluating institutional (consulting firm) experience and credentials.  Enhancing communication between project staff and partners helps create a collaborative working environment which adds value and strengthens the sense of a team among stakeholders despite their differences. Another central element to team building is the collaborative design and implementation of the project’s financial and procurement procedures, aligned with the procedures of partner organizations.

Third lesson: Continuous attention and allocation of needed resources to monitoring and evaluation and ensuring that cross-cutting issues (gender, sustainability and environmental preservation) are mainstreamed into the project during implementation strengthen overall performance.

Ensuring that monitoring and evaluation functions are implemented effectively requires attention not only to activity, output and results monitoring, but also to track the changing dynamics in the

56 communities/sectors targeted and the sustainability prospects of the intervention. This should include monitoring of conflict and risks, gender relations, and the institutional framework, as these aspects have a direct bearing on project performance and its ability to deliver results. The following could be taken into consideration to improve prospects for performance:

 Enabling project partners to make strategic, evidence-based decisions and to generate learning requires projects to design and put in place strong monitoring and evaluation systems at the onset of implementation. Such system should be dynamic to enable capturing relevant data needed for decision making. It should include all the tools and forms needed for data collection, analysis, and reporting. Responsibilities for monitoring and evaluation tasks need to be very clear, and adequate resources should be allocated. The utility of monitoring and evaluation is maximized when it explicitly focuses on generating learning, and identifies knowledge creation as one of its key objectives.  Networking and coordination with organizations active in marginalized communities in Area C is critical for enhancing both the effectiveness and efficiency of project performance, and should thus be integrated into project operations. Networking and coordination efforts could focus on building synergies through establishing referral systems (for social services), advocacy and legal assistance, all of which are critical for addressing vulnerability and strengthening resilience and steadfastness in marginalized communities in Area C. As part of the coordination and agenda, stakeholders in general, and project funders in particular, should be flexible and willing to accept introducing changes to project activities, when Area C is involved. This, however, requires the project monitoring and evaluation system to carefully monitor changing operational dynamics, risks, and generate the data and evidence needed to support the introduction of changes and exception.  Achieving gender equality and equity between men and women herders requires the project team to pay particular attention to a number of issues that affect women’s empowerment and enhance their productive, social and political roles. This can be done through: o Ensuring that the project team includes an expert on gender equality and social development to work hand-in-hand with and support field staff in mainstreaming gender into project activities, including implementation of activities exclusively with women. o Ensuring a gender balance in project staff, as well as sensitizing and training staff on gender issues. o On the basis of analyzing gender dynamics in the targeted communities, ensuring that the project’s approach and mechanisms directly target women and respond to the needs and structural power imbalances.  Sustainability of project results is more likely when the project design includes a clear and action oriented exit strategy, and when project partners work together to implement it. Such strategy often requires the project team and partners to extend technical support and follow- up through their staff to the targeted communities and beneficiaries beyond the lifetime of the project. This is particularly true when innovative technologies are introduced towards the end of the project’s lifetime to ensure their effective uptake dissemination.

Fourth Lesson: Capacity building of different and interlinked key stakeholders throughout the value chains is an essential ingredient for successful livelihood development interventions targeting herders in marginalized communities.

In marginalized communities in general, and in Area C in particular, livelihood strategies and their outcomes are influenced by the effectiveness of humanitarian and development interventions implemented by various stakeholders in these communities. They are particularly affected by initiatives aiming to address vulnerability drivers in the community and those aiming to introduce systemic changes in the livestock breeding systems on the basis of value chain analysis and development approaches. Consequently, the following considerations should be kept in mind when planning for enhancing the effectiveness of value chain development interventions:

 Capacity building interventions should be designed with the principle objective of putting in place a model for enhancing herders’ livelihoods and strengthen their position in their value chains. To ensure that this happens, capacity building programs should be designed on the basis of an in-depth, participatory analysis of the structure of the value, and the performance of the value chain actors, with emphasis on performance gaps among herders and their associations.  Supporting women and medium-scale producers in forming cooperatives should include a specialized capacity building program that focuses on enhancing these organizations’ business performance and commitment to cooperative principles. Any engagement with existing cooperatives should give special attention to assisting these in assessing and resolving any membership problems they experience as these could be detrimental to cooperative performance. Efforts should be made to ensure that partner cooperatives deliver relevant services to their members, and that membership of partner cooperatives reflects the cooperative principle of economic participation; that is, all members not only own shares in their cooperative but also engage in economic transactions with it in the spirit of mutual benefit. To the extent possible and appropriate, formation of specialized cooperatives at the various levels of the value chain should be encouraged to improve the efficiency of project investments and reduce conflict.  Working with women and men entrepreneur producers to develop their business enterprises goes a long way in strengthening their livelihood strategies, while also ensuring their sustainability. Moreover, strengthening these businesses contributes to improving their access to services, production inputs marketing advisory in the targeted communities. To improve the success prospects of new enterprises, projects should improve the business enabling environment and enhance access to support services. This should be done in a holistic manner either directly or through networking and coordination with other organizations and target infrastructure development, technical assistance, capacity building, and financing.  Strengthening women’s technical production capacities in the livestock value chain in general, and in dairy processing in particular, requires the introduction of new technologies and practices as well as the provision of the tools needed to use these technologies. In doing so, special care should be given to analyzing the impact and suitability of new technologies from a gender perspective. Technologies that are likely to increase an unwanted work burden on women, or that lead to disproportionate advantage to male producers should be reconsidered.  Agricultural extension programs that are based on demonstrations and applied research are effective ways to disseminate new practices and innovative technologies. However, to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of these programs, the following conditions should be met: i) the inputs required for the implementation of the innovative technologies being introduced should be readily available and accessible to all producer categories in the targeted communities; ii) results of new technologies should be regularly monitored with the active participation of lead producers in the targeted community; and, iii) demonstrations should be implemented under appropriate conditions and given the time and resources they need to show tangible results.

3 Partners and other Coo-operation

3.1 Assessment of the relationship between the formal partners of this Action 3.2 Continuation of action

Rawasi is implemented by CARE, PARC and ICARDA that were selected to complement and build on each other’s capacities and areas of expertise. The Rawasi management team is constituted by representatives of all three partners and designed in a way to ensure maximum efficiency and quality. The implementation team consists of highly qualified and experienced technical experts of all three organisations (water engineer, agronomists, veterinarians, livestock scientists, gender specialists, etc.) who ensured high quality implementation. During the implementation period partners were able to implement the project in full coordination knowing expected roles and responsibilities required from each of them. Although CARE and its partners have worked together since years, the level of innovation is considerable under Rawasi and it was also implemented smoothly despite the comprehensive nature of the project.

Below is a summary of the roles played by each of the consortium´s members:

 CARE as the contract holder takes the lead role in overall management, monitoring and reporting and it ensures partners are involved in planning, implementation, and documentation of lesson learned activities at all levels. As part of the steering committee CARE contributes with technical guidance throughout all components and has the overall responsibility for the advocacy component under ER 1 as well as for the development of innovative and proven market driven and value chain facilitation models under ER 3. CARE also takes the necessary steps to ensure visibility and puts a clear accent on empowering women and gender mainstreaming.

 While PARC leads the implementation of the activities on the ground in the agricultural sector across Palestine; ICARDA draws on a worldwide network of agricultural research in arid zones. Both partners, through the project steering committee, are directly involved in both field and management related actions and decisions. PARC and ICARDA are jointly responsible for ER 1, whereby PARC focuses on the capacity building of cooperatives, including follow up processes, and ICARDA on the establishment of demonstration plots, access to improved seeds and plantation techniques and adapted agricultural machinery in coopereation with Palestinian producers. ER 2 is led by PARC who has long-standing experiences with animal health, amongst others through model farms. ER 3 is under the leadership of PARC and CARE.

 CARE along with PARC are responsible for integrating development approaches of market demand driven value chain facilitation into all ERs, thus applying integrated business-oriented models.

Building on the successful relationship between the three partners the following two projects were granted to the consortium members. These projects adopt the same Rawasi methodology and targets the livestock holders as follows: 1. Souqona project funded by the Australia Government and implemented by CARE and ICARDA and ARIJ. One major component of the project is focused on livestock. This component is going to build on Rawasi’s achievements and areas of strength while recognizing the lessons that were learned from Rawasi implementation. Total budget: 5.8 million USD, with duration of five years (April 2016 to March 2021), locations: central and northern West Bank). 2. Ayadi project to be implemented in West Bank/ Gaza- North and South; funded by the Canadian Government and implemented by both CARE & PARC. The focus of the project is livestock and is implemented in full coordination with the Souqona project to ensure maximum benefits and synergies. Total budget: 3.5 million USD, with duration of three years (July 2016 to June 2019), locations: central, northern and southern West Bank).

3.3 Assessment of the relationship with State Authorities

Rawasi consortium implemented regular and meaningful coordination with Government actors including ministries/ local councils/ governors/ etc. The coordination is taking place on several levels seeking full involvement of relevant ministries in the implementation and the follow up of the project implementation:

 During the design phase; coordination with MoA was initiated as it directly contributes to the realisation of the PA’s Agricultural Sector Strategy as well as the Palestinian National Development Plan. The project has defined its aims to be in a perfect fit with the following strategic goals of the PA: activating the rights of Palestinians to land and water, improving the health and productivity of livestock, reduction of land degradation and optimal use of resources, improving the quality of produce health, empowering women’s role in the agriculture sector and strengthening the role of the private sector in agriculture.

 CARE and partners are still cooperating with the MoA to support communities’ access to government-led extension services, with the Palestinian Water Authority for the rehabilitation of water management systems as well as with local government units for direct support during the implementation. The MoA agreed to leverage Rawasi’s best practices, pilots, innovations, toolkits, etc. to scale up the impact in the livestock sector in the oPt.

 Rawasi team assisted MoA veterinary directorates in the dissemination of information related to national identification system. This was either through: the distribution of relevant materials, facilitating the access of MoA staff to target communities, contribution from Rawasi budget line contributed to awareness raising activities under the project.

 MoA was represented in different levels of Rawasi management structure as follows: 1) project steering committee, 2) project technical committee, 3) LbL-f and LbL-i regular coordination committee, 4) local directorates involved in the selection, monitoring and follow up of activities on field level.

 Coordination with relevant PA ministries regarding policy level where all documented cases related to access and movement restrictions as well as their impact on livestock holders’ livelihoods is documented, shared and used to advocate for increased protection of the extremely vulnerable population in military zones in Area C.

 Consortium members were part of the development livestock sub-sector strategy led by MoA and in cooperation with FAO.

3.4 Relations with other organizations

 Final beneficiaries and target groups Local communities (including representatives of the CBOs) have been integrated and consulted during the preparation phase and have also confirmed the analysis of underlying problems that informed the design of the action. CBOs and SMEs are playing a dual role where they are benefiting from activities that allow them to act as active socio-economic hubs/social enterprises that better correspond to community needs (receiving capacity building and inputs), and in the

same time they are part of the decision makers who decide on the selection of locations, beneficiaries, and the methodologies of the implementation.

The same is applied in terms of targetting individual livestock beneficiaries who are benefiting from the activities but also are addressed via a peer to peer approach: livestock holders who participate in capacity building have disseminated their knowledge to members of their cooperative and provide services to others in the project area.

 Other third parties involved (including other donors, other government agencies or local government units, NGOs, etc) o Regular coordination with LbL program is carried out on different levels: activity level, steering committee level, coordination committee level. The coordination included the unification of the selection criteria, finalization of locations selection, lessons learned on model field school farms and hydroponic stations, joint efforts in terms of visibility, joint mid-term review. o Coordination with other active organizations in the field through regular participation in networks and forums (e.g. AIDA and livestock subsector working group). o Coordination with relevant research institutes and universities to follow up on the documentation of the results related to innovative techniques (NARC, Khodoury, and An- najah university) o Coordination with private sector representatives who are involved in the design of most feasible and efficient models of solar panels, hydroponic, and conservation agriculture. This coordination aims at enhancing the innovation and leveraging the interest of the private sector in this field.

3.5 Links and synergies with other Actions

The Rawasi project built synergies with other CARE implemented projects. For instance, linkages were created with the TATWEER project that is implemented in Tubas area with funds from the Australian Government. Through TATWEER project a calendar produced with events that are relevant for livestock holders; with clear set of actions related to animal husbandry, barn management, production techniques. The calendars were distributed to Rawasi beneficiaries (200 copies). The Rawasi market system assessment was shared with many stakeholders including MoA, LbL-i nad LbL-f programs, PMDP program funded by DFID, Oxfam, etc. the assessment was referred to when designing projects related to livestock holders. The partners within the consortium (CARE, PARC and ICARDA) are designing their future interventions involving main facilities established by the project including field school farms and dairy units. UNDP is currently implementing a project with the al Aqaba CBO targeted under Rawasi to provide them with cold truck based on the success that they have achieved through the project. Scientific results and papers generated on animal feed, animal husbandry and water innovation were shared with three universities who started an exchange program for their students interested in tracking these methods in the field and in coordination with their faculties. This was mainly implemented with the field school farms. CARE and PARC are currently implementing two other projects that are directly connected to Rawasi: Ayadi and Souqona.

Of course project was fully aligned with LbL projects implemented by FAO and UAWC and Oxfam. This was further formalized through the coordination framework signed by the different actors where results and good practices were shared.

3.6 Alignment with other projects funded by the EU

The project was fully aligned with the Livestock based Livelihood institutional and field level program financed and coordinated by the EU.

3.7 Co-operation with the services of the Contracting Authority

The contracting authority provided support and played a great role in coordination with other LbL projects, and other relevant projects funded by EU and with MoA. And the team was so understanding when issues arose from the field and helped in finding solutions to issues/ obstacles/ constraints.

4 Visibility Visibility of EU contribution was highly ensured throughout the implementation of the activities in year I. The following set of actions was carried out to ensure both EU visibility and Austrian Development Cooperation´s (ADC):  Development of communication and visibility action plan with clear set of actions to attain following objectives: • To ensure that key target groups are aware of the work the EU, CARE and other partners are carrying out to support livestock holders in Area C and reflecting the visibility guidelines of ADC. • To increase the knowledge within key target groups of main requirements needed to strengthen the resilience and increase the income of sheep and goat holders in Northern and Central locations in Area C. • Promote the participation of women in economic empowerment, value chain based interventions and strengthen local cooperative and solidarity structure via the support to social enterprises/socio-economic hubs (mostly local CBOs or cooperatives) and link them to the local and regional markets/SMEs. • Sharing technical knowledge with practitioners and academic/research institutions.

 Use of EU and ADC logo on all documents particularly on the following documents/ advertisements/ events/Etc. • Operational Manual and all project documents. • Tender announcements in local newspapers.  In the signing of MoUs and agreements with CBOs, Individual beneficiaries, vendors and consultants.  Press releases for different project activities that took place throughout the year.  Project announcements in local communities.  Banners and stickers for all activities and inputs (e.g. stickers on distributed trailered water tanks and banners in the different locations).

 Visibility activities including: • Media coverage, production including in TV and newspaper, electronic websites covering Rawasi activities. • Production of project brochure.

• Visibility materials in workshops and meetings including banners, agenda, hand outs, signs, posters and rollups, etc. • Visibility signs installation (e.g. in demonstration sites and agricultural roads).

 Visibility through presentations in preparatory and regular meetings with different stakeholders (e.g. CBOs, municipalities, village council, etc.).

 Joint visibility actions with LbL-I and LbL-i: press release and joint newsletter.  International visibility actions: • In coordination with CARE Austria, 2 Austrian journalists visited the field in 09- 10/2015. In Palestine they met with the project team that also facilitated an exchange meeting with Palestinian peer journalists and with the Norwegian Refugee Council that gave an insight into the legal, political and security framework of WBG. 2 articles were published as a result: . Seifert, Thomas: Die Joghurt-Intifada, In: Wiener Zeitung (11.10.2015), URL: http://www.wienerzeitung.at/nachrichten/welt/weltpolitik/779659_Die-Joghurt- Intifada.html . Jentsch, Christian: Ein Leben im Schatten der Mauer; In: Tiroler Tageszeitung Online (19.10.2015), URL: http://www.tt.com/politik/10584318-91/ein-leben-im- schatten-der-mauer.csp • As a follow up on this action, CARE organized in cooperation with the Austrian Development Cooperation a Round table discussion “Markets in crisis” in Vienna, where cases of private sector development and cooperation were presented. Ms Hiba Tibi (Rawasi project manger) and Mr Anan Kittana (CARE´s MENA Economic Empowerment Director) were present. • The event proved important to stronger recognize CARE in the Austrian expert and donor community. As a result the Country Director (Mr. Rene Celaya) is invited to present CARE´s approach in fragile markets on the Annual Symposium of the ADC on 8th of September 2016.

Please see Annex V & Annex VI: Article in the Austrian Wiener Zeitung & Article in the Austrian Tiroler Tageszeitung

Please see Annex II: Video Documentation or refer to the following links: https://www.care.at/projekte/palaestinensische-gebiete-verbesserung-der-ernaehrungssituation-von-viehhirten/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxbA1FARjg&feature=youtu.be

The European Commission may wish to publicise the results of Actions. Do you have any objection to this report being published on the EuropeAid website? If so, please state your objections here. NA

Name of the contact person for the Action: Ms. Hiba Tibi (Project Manager, CARE West Bank and Gaza), Judit Kontseková (Program Officer, CARE Austria)

Judit Kontseková Hiba Tibi Signature: ……………………………………… ………………………………………

Vienna Rammallah Location:……………………………………… ………………………………………

Date report due: 31.08.2016

Date report sent: 31.08.2016