Deir Ballut Cooperative Maftoul Drying Room

Thanks to you we built a much needed rooftop Maftoul drying room for the Deir Ballut Women’s Cooperative in 2019. These women make the best quality maftoul in Palestine! They applied for a grant to build a drying unit so they could increase their productivity in this sustainable business.

The grant included the framed mesh drying room and wooden drying shelves for maftoul. The increased space for greater quantity and quality will add significantly to the financial status of their cooperative and the increased income will improve all members’ living conditions.

REPORT ON DEIR BALLUT COOPERATIVE MAFTOUL DRYING UNIT: Completed in spring 2019, this project targeted the women’s lack of space to dry maftoul, and their request for a good place to dry large quantities with high quality. The women asked for a drying unit on the roof of their cooperative building to increase their productivity in a sustainable enterprise.

BACKGROUND: The Deir Ballut Women’s Cooperative is recognized by the PFTA as producing the best quality maftoul in Palestine! The PFTA asked them to conduct training in best practices for the other women’s cooperatives. For many of the women, this was the first time they had ever been able to leave their village of Deir Ballut under the occupation.

THE GRANT: The grant included the framed mesh drying room and twenty wooden drying shelves to put the maftoul on. There are 10 women in the cooperative, and the project will contribute significantly to the financial status of the cooperative and improve the members’ living conditions. The micro-grant project goes beyond simple economic or environmental improvements, however. The cooperative is open to the participation of any women in the village to dry their maftoul in the new unit.

SUCCESS: The drying unit is complete. Here is the progress from the roof to the finished framed drying room to the shelves. The maftoul season starts in late August with the wheat harvest.