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AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

The First Palestinian Mushroom Farm needs your help!

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AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

AMORO, The Story of Palestine’s 1st Mushroom Farm

The First Palestinian Mushroom Farm needs your help!

The First Palestinian Mushroom Farm needs your help!

The First Palestinian Mushroom Farm needs your help!

The First Palestinian Mushroom Farm needs your help!

Saleh Hijazi
Saleh Hijazi
Saleh Hijazi
Saleh Hijazi
1 Campaign |
Jericho, Palestine, State of
$15,584 USD $15,584 USD 155 backers
41% of $37,877 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal
Overview
We are the first and only mushroom farm in the country. With others today trying to follow our footsteps, we pride ourselves on having started a new trend in Palestinian agriculture. But our popular mushrooms are grown under Israeli military occupation which imposes unfair, unjust and costly restrictions on us. This has forced us to scale back our enterprise and we need your help to continue to grow our beloved spores in Palestine.

We are a group of friends with a love for edible fungi. In 2014, we started the first and, until today, only relatively large-scale mushroom farm in Palestine. The idea for our project began over a BBQ, when we wanted to grill fresh mushrooms but could only find Israeli grown options. Israel imposes a military occupation that controls every single bit of our lives. 

So, on that fateful day, despite our hunger, we did not want to consume the Israeli mushrooms and could not see a reason why we couldn’t grow our own. So, we embarked on a journey of research, education, and training and set up the farm. We called it ‘Amoro', a name inspired by stories of the Amorites people who lived in Palestine around 2000 to 1600 BC.

Importing a top-quality spore infused compost from the Netherlands, we began producing closed-cap white mushrooms. Our staff consisted of women from local vulnerable communities. 

It didn’t take long for Amoro mushrooms to become a hit; people were eating all that we produced. And right when we thought about expanding and making our own compost, our reality of living under occupation hit home. 

Israeli authorities began to stall our compost imports, which must go through Israeli ports. Four containers containing compost were stalled at the Ashdod sea port an average of 49 days each time costing us more than $60,000 in port fees only. It was a clear targeting of our farm. We imported from the Netherlands, with whom Israel has very strong trade relations. We also bought from the same source Israeli mushroom farms buy from, but while Israeli farms continued to produce mushrooms with support and subsidy from their government, our production was stalled and our losses accumulated. 

We wrote to the port authorities through our lawyer each time but received no answer. We are now developing our legal challenge to what we believe are arbitrary restrictions imposed on us by Israel. It is a long process and in the meantime we need to continue to produce to maintain the farm.

We are asking your help to make up for some of what we lost in port fees.  Help us raise $30,000 which we will use to:

1- Build a compost storing space (refrigerated)  that will help us mitigate any similar obstacles we may face in the future and allow production continuity. This costs around $10,000

2- Ensure proper maintenance of the farm including by upgrading filters, sensors, humidifiers, growing nets, and pulling wench. These upgrades will ensure that we produce top quality and highly competitive product.  All will cost around $10,000

3- Buy a steam boiler to ensure best hygienic practice, costs around $10,000  

With your help we can keep producing, satisfying Palestinian love for mushrooms, maintaining independence, and investing in a better future for Amoro and our communities. 

Please donate any amount, every little helps. 

Please do get in touch, we will be more than happy to answer your questions or just chat with you about Amoro

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Choose your Perk

Special shout out

Currency Conversion $63 USD
£50 GBP
We'll give you a special shout out on our Facebook page
Included Items
  • Special shout out
30 claimed

Thank you card

Currency Conversion $126 USD
£100 GBP
A specially designed and personalized thank you card from the Amoro crew
Included Items
  • Card
Estimated Shipping
April 2018
10 out of 200 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
Visit Palestine Poster

Visit Palestine Poster

Currency Conversion $253 USD
£200 GBP
Get a Visit Palestine poster
Included Items
  • Poster
Estimated Shipping
April 2018
6 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.

Amoro T Shirt

Currency Conversion $631 USD
£500 GBP
Get an Amoro T shirt designed by a Palestinian artist
Included Items
  • T shirt
Estimated Shipping
April 2018
1 out of 100 of claimed
Ships worldwide.
Name graffiti

Name graffiti

Currency Conversion $1,263 USD
£1,000 GBP
At the end of the campaign we will have Palestinian graffiti artist create a mural including the names of the people who claim this perk on the walls of our farm - you will receive a postcard of the mural once completed
Included Items
  • Name graffiti
Estimated Shipping
April 2018
1 out of 100 of claimed

Year long supply of mushrooms

Currency Conversion $1,263 USD
£1,000 GBP
Only if you are in Palestine, receive a year long supply of Amoro mushrooms
Included Items
  • Mushrooms
Estimated Shipping
April 2018
0 out of 5 of claimed

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