جمعية المشروع الإنشائي العربي جمعية
Arab Development Society (ADS)
من نحن
About the organisation
The ADS was established in 1945 and worked to assure the welfare of Palestinian refugees following the British withdrawal from Palestine in 1948. Using the remainder of the funds assigned to the ADS by the Arab League Economic Committee, combined with some personal capital, Musa Alami engaged a project to dig for water on the area of land earmarked for the project north-east of Jericho. After finding and digging 28 wells over the course of a few years, the land was cultivated and a small experimental farm was set up. By 1951 the farm was more or less established and was capable of large scale cultivation by 1955. The farm was used to accommodate, educate and give vocational training to orphaned children from the neighbouring refugee camps and communities. At the ADS, Palestinian boys learned how to farm, were schooled and also trained in vocational skills including vocational electrical skills, weaving, carpentry and metalwork.
The ADS is about to enter a new phase with the development of a 10-year plan to re-engage with the communities of Jericho and Palestine and to open up the project and farm and modernise its operations and ventures.
Farms, production and other facilities
Cow farm: The ADS cow farm was started in the early 1960s from a herd of 26 cows and has grown over the years to a current herd of 374 cows. All the cows milk is used to produce milk, cheese and yoghurts in the project’s production centre.
Dairy production: A dairy production unit has been part of the project since the first cows were introduced to the ADS. The original plant was installed with the assistance of experts sent by Brigham Young University and has been regularly upgraded into the facility operating today. The facility uses 100% of the milk from the cow farm and produces highly respected and desired dairy products sold in the West Bank.
Fish farm: The fish farm project was started as a partnership between the ADS and the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture through funding from the Danish, Brazilian and Argentinian governments. The farm currently is set up to hatch, grow and harvest tilapia for sale in the Palestinian market. The farm’s facilities were later expanded from hatcheries to sell directly to the Palestinian market and have now started supplying restaurants and other customers with fish grown in the ADS