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Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited one of CARANA and USAID's most prominent successes in the West Bank, the Khaizaran Herb Farm on October 7, praising it as a “well-done, productive project.” Currently serving as special envoy to the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East (representing the U.S., Russia, European Union and the United Nations), Blair visited the greenhouse and packinghouse as part of a trip to the Northern Governorate, observing development efforts and noting business constraints. Khaizaran, the country’s only commercial herb facility shipping to international markets, is the first GlobalGap-certified packinghouse and greenhouse facility in the West Bank and last year became the first to ship fresh produce directly to the U.S. With USAID funding, PAPA shared start-up costs for equipment and construction, and provided industry experts from the US and Israel to evaluate market potential, climate conditions, greenhouse structure, plant varieties and scale of production. PAPA also established market linkages between Khaizaran and export brokers in Israel and the U.S. and successfully negotiated trade routes and logistics with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to allow exports from the region. To make the U.S. shipments possible, PAPA worked with the USDA to approve Palestine as a “country of origin.” Published November 2008 Share through your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
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Blair visits unique Palestinian herb farm