This document summarizes a study on using water subsidies to alleviate poverty and improve food and water security for extremely poor families in Palestine. 38 families from poor localities were given small agricultural projects and water subsidies. This approach improved their incomes, reduced their poverty gaps, and improved food and water security for 90% of families. While successful, 10% of families remained in extreme poverty and require additional support. The study recommends continuing technical support for projects and subsidies, and providing training to help families sustainably manage projects and water consumption.

1. Abdelrahman tamimi Director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group for water and environmental resources development Al-Quds university –sustainable development institute a.tamimi@phg.org Socioeconomic dimension of water policy

2. Trends Tensions Transitions Socioeconomic (3T’s)

3. Income Willingness to pay affordability Lack of revenues Unemployment due to the lack of proper water policy to deal with drought water scarcity ,many countries ( in particular agriculture communities )suffer from rising unemployment rates , the consequences of that high rates are effecting badly the other major socioeconomic indicators related water ( affordability, willingness to pay .etc Trends

4. Uncertainties it is so difficult to implement the principals of IWRM without flexible, multi-option based water policy as a cope mechanisms to deal with uncertainties. ( uncertainties can be natural (e.g. ; long term drought) or manmade such as ( e.g. ;pollution or lack of social stability) Trends

5. Poverty and Food security relationship between gross water availability , food and poverty alleviation are not straight forward, it is possible to observe close links between reliable access to water services and poverty alleviation Trends

6. Good governance and institutional reforms without monitoring the trend of main indicators of good governance and reform process the efficient water policy approach will not be able to enable the environment to apply the policy components

7. Climate change the trend of effect of CC ON Social stability Human security Trans-boundary conflict development TRENDS

9. declining access to food, water and energy rising costs of basic services

10. shrinking middle classRESULT: SOCIAL CONFLICT AND BAD PERFORMANCE OF WATER INSTITUTIONS Socioeconomic Tensions

12. Full understanding (trends , tensions)

13. Well defined reform process

14. Proper institutions

15. clear national socioeconomic agenda Socioeconomic Transitions

17. Putting in the place the institutional framework through which the strategies and policies can be implemented

18. Setting up the management instrument required by these institutions to do their jobKey Water Policy measures towards socioeconomic issues in the frame of water management

19. Make sure that the policies formulated through participatory approach and based on socioeconomic indicators Make the policies flexible , easy to cope with uncertainties Make sure that policy is known and transparent in order to gain political well and acceptance Create policy ownership by involving all governmental bodies and civil society organizations in the process of policy formulation At Institutional level

20. Policy reform to ensure more effective targeting of poverty reduction Define measures and act on policy changes in other sector that effect the potential of water contribute to poverty reduction e.g. financial mechanisms. Decentralization …etc. At community level

21. Enable the researcher to have accurate and reliable water related data( some countries are hiding the socioeconomic indicators) Integrate research output with disc ion making process Enhance the dialogue between water experts and decision makers Promote the concept of research oriented policies will lead to improve socioeconomic situation Promote the water innovative projects to the private sector At research level

22. Water Subsidy As A tool For Poverty Alleviation For Extreme Poor Families In Palestine Case study

23. Goal of the study To what extend water subsidy participating to improve social safety conditions for poor and hardly hit families in the in marginalized areas in West Bank through creating income provider families instead of recipients of assistance so that they are able to improve their welfare conditions and to what extend individual agricultural income generating projects and water supply will eradicate extreme poverty or improve food and water security.

24. Study Area Sample form most poorly classsifed localities : WadiU’beid, Khirbet Salama, Fuqeiqis ,and Imreish / Hebron district 40 kms south of Jerusalem Total population of the block was estimated at some 2400 Study sample : 38families. These locations aren’t connected to water networks and are suffering from water shortage.

26. Background Social, economic and political conditions have been deteriorating since 2000 ,resulting in a high unemployment level (25.3% WB, UNDP data,2007) and increase in the poverty level (53.7%). The construction of the Apartheid Wall has maximized and widened the unemployment problem and increased the threshold of poverty. About 65000 family are placed under extreme poverty line . Definition of poverty line based on the PCBS2007 Matrix .

27. Extreme Poverty line matrix

28. Background The World Bank definition of the poverty line (2 US$ per capita per day) is generally considered the threshold, and all locals with an income less than this threshold are considered poor. More than 60% of the people in the study area are below the national poverty line. The average monthly income per family in the study area was estimated at 292.7US$ (1US $=4.00 NIS) More than 40% of the total population in WB & G suffer from food insecurity. The agricultural sector is the most active sector in the area , which suffers from restrictions imposed on farmers by Israelis : movement and marketing limitations and land confiscation in addition to lack of water .

29. Methodology Poverty cards and livelihood assessment application were filled for 80 families “In which a wide socio-economic information were collected” 90% of the families which represent locals that are passed in the test poverty, all locating under the extreme poverty line . 38 families were chosen for the study(got projects)Those families represents some 15% of the total families inhabited in the area ( some 266 family). They reflects extreme poverty and poor living conditions due to food and water insecurity . The 38 families were selected based on program designed by( DEEP-UNDP, 2007). Evaluation of a list of information in the poverty card is able to calculate position of any family from poverty line.

30. Poverty Card

31. Methodology The analysis include the following items : family #, Family size , Extreme poverty line , Food insecurity , average expenditure , water consumption (domestic and agriculture ) ,water cost , water subsidy , income generates through small projects , poverty gap , drop down in gap , farm size , roof catchment , average rainfall , cisterns capacity , collected rainfall , savings ,.. Based on the analysis the current situation will be assessed for the 38 families in terms poverty gap shortening , option for improvement of food and water security for Extreme Poor Families, then a projection for the situation will be estimated for the next 6 years ( up to 2015) .

40. Conclusions: Creation of jobs through various activities will create additional income, and will increase power to secure their food and water. The growth of the agriculture sector will create more opportunities for extreme poor families. The quantity and quality of food which needed to sustain families livelihood are improved and some of the most vulnerable groups will cross the poverty line and will have better standard of living in terms of food and water security. 90 % of the families are graduated totally form extreme poverty and start to have an opportunity to improve income per capita due to the methodology implemented in order to subsidy them .

41. Conclusions: 10% of the families are considered as extremely poorest of the poor and they still need to be supported by other interventions. Per-capita income is increased dramatically by 10 times as a result of this approach , provided a continuous of technical follow up to the projects and water subsidy up to the year 2015. Such approach through supporting poor families by small income generating projects will participate in creating provider and producer families instead of recipient families; minimize poverty, promote social safety conditions for extremely poor families, and secure basic needs from food and water. Support such families will participate to graduate them from extreme poverty level to a higher level in which they will be able to secure themselves independently.

42. Recommendations: Other development options are absolutely needed to overcome the available and future expected gap apart from subsidy by supplying water to poor families. NGOs and funder should support those extremely poor families through helping them to start-up a small income generating projects at small level. This approach will help the family make profit and secure their basic needs in a sustainable way. Training sessions should be conducted for those families on sites; these trainings will help them to gain skills that enable them to manage small projects and sustain the generated profit and manage consumption of water for different purposes.

43. Thank You