For generations, the land has been a source of livelihood for Palestinians, providing food to the general population and income to farmers and their families. Since 1967, the combination of Israeli land expropriation, home demolitions, and discriminatory resource allocation policies has dramatically reduced the land and water available to Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These changes have made day labor in Israel and the settlements more lucrative than farming, thus destroying the agricultural village as the basic, sustainable economic unit that had supported Palestinians throughout history.

Israeli restrictions on the movement of goods and people have compounded these circumstances, making the Palestinian economy almost totally dependent on the Israeli economy and international aid.  UPA’s Community and Economic Development programs promote self-sufficiency, sustainable growth, and prosperity by revitalizing agriculture, making infrastructure improvements, and encouraging small business development.