التعاونيات في فلسطين

This project investigates the role of Palestinian agricultural youth cooperatives in creating spaces for youth employment and the facilitation of civic engagement as well as contribution to poverty reduction, environmental awareness, and gender equality. It studies the viability of youth cooperatives as a sustainable economic model based on socio-civic engagement that can serve as prototype for creating egalitarian spaces for Palestinian youth, including women and girls. The project undertakes research to develop policy recommendations based on findings that reflect whether and to what extent are agricultural youth cooperatives useful practice to address economic, socio-civic, and cultural concerns. It also looks into possible types of contribution by various actors, such as universities in the form of identifying needed learning modules and curricula to facilitate the engagement of university graduates in cooperatives and their establishment. The main hypothesis of this proposed research is that agricultural youth cooperative models can contribute to more sustainable and stable economic growth in a Palestinian context of military occupation, failed governance, societal divisions, youth apathy, and lack of civic engagement. In the proposed research, we offer a triangulated analysis of the relationship between employment among university degree holders, civic engagement, and food sovereignty through the experience and socio-cultural practices of agricultural youth cooperatives. Such analysis influences policy in Palestine in a manner that facilitates poverty reduction. It promotes increase in youth fulfilment and self-actualization, heightening social participation. In this research, Muwatin Institute aims at: (a) Understanding youth perceptions about the labour market and its future and their place in it; (b) Identifying possible obstacles and attractions for youth engagement in “production cooperatives” as an alternative model of engagement in the labour market; (c) Understanding youth perceptions of needed policy interventions concerning the development and promotion of cooperatives; (d) Grasping the perceptions and experiences of youth who consider themselves already engaged in cooperatives and other alternative models (both successful and unsuccessful); (e) Identify regulatory obstacles to the engagement of youth in cooperatives; (f) Identify possible cultural perception towards the cooperative model of business, and towards agricultural labour; (g) Finding what policy development does the agricultural cooperative sector need to be able to attract youth. These aims shall be realized through a series of such as textual analysis of materials (media, scholarly work, and institutional policies), an analysis of the regulatory framework of cooperatives (law, regulations, and bureaucratic practice), in addition to around 100 interviews with stakeholders and their surrounding environment. These include students and recent graduates, working agricultural cooperatives and public institutions (including umbrella organisations) representatives, NGOs working in agricultural sector.