The objectives of ARIJ Agriculture Department are various and comprehensive, among them is to provide better conservation, management, and utilization of land, water, food and biodiversity resources in the OPT; to develop agricultural plans and strategies; to assess alternative options, policies and technologies to utilize natural resources; and to assist decision makers and stakeholders in developing agricultural plans and strategies
As for the approach, ARIJ works with farmers in order to assist in mitigating the impact of unemployment, poverty and limited accessibility to food, improving the socio-economic and food security conditions of targeted households. ARIJ’s policy is to foster a partnership relationship with farmers, out of its belief that such joint ownership of the idea and its implementation are the essential ingredients for success. The Agriculture Department also aims to promote the agriculture sector in general, through research on agricultural techniques; technology adaptation; planning and policy; and the implementation of developmental activities through which the rural household food security could be improved and sustained.
Through the Agriculture Department ARIJ is involved in several developmental and research projects in the fields of dry land and irrigated farming, livestock production, greenhouses and home gardens construction and cultivation, water and wastewater management. Additionally, ARIJ works to preserve rare and threatened field crops, and encourages agricultural policies such as crop diversification, intercropping, and crop rotation.
And as ARIJ focuses on the capability approach in its agricultural interventions, the agriculture department provides continuous training and participatory workshops aimed at increasing farmers’ awareness of agricultural practices such as the knowledge of home based agriculture production; food processing and food hygiene; in addition to enhancing and improving commercialization and exporting capacities.