Palestinian female farmer, activist stresses need for sustainable agriculture in lecture

Fatima Breijeyeh, a farmer, social activist, and the first female head of the local council in Al-Masara, a Palestinian village 6 km southwest of Bethlehem, discussed sustainable farming in the Palestinian context in a lecture organized by the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University on Saturday, February 23, 2019.

A lifelong farmer, Breijeyeh detailed the organic approach to farming as a form of social activism and a way to develop the Palestinian community in a sustainable manner. She also explained the efforts of Al-Masara’s women’s association to help its community become self-sufficient and employ sustainable farming techniques. 

Breijeyeh emphasized the need for Palestinians to return to organic farming as a way to break the Israeli occupation’s threat to Palestinian food security, noting that Israel could destabilize food security in the occupied territories at a moment’s notice.