The Palestine Fair Trade Association (PFTA) has been recognized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) as a world model for rural development. The PFTA was featured as a case study in the recent Learning from Catalyst of Rural Transformation publication of the ILO.

The PFTA has succeeded in directly improving the living and working conditions of its members and also their farming communities. That they were able to accomplish this development under military occupation is truly remarkable, as our supporters know.

You support this success when you plant olive and almond trees in Palestine through the PFTA Trees for Life program, and support regenerative agriculture projects for men and women farmers through their other projects. The PFTA is a Palestinian non-profit organization that fits our mission of sustaining traditional farming communities in Palestine.

The key message of the ILO studies in the publication is that the determination and creativity of the indigenous people, especially rural men and women, and young people, can overcome numerous challenges and transform rural economies and societies. The PFTA has succeeded in spite of Palestine being under hostile military occupation. There is a great history of the PFTA in the study.

The ILO was founded in 1919, in the wake of a destructive war, to pursue a vision based on the premise that universal, lasting peace can be established only if it is based on social justice. The ILO became the first specialized agency of the UN in 1946.