The forum aimed to highlight success stories and entrepreneurial initiatives that emerged from the program. More than 222 young men and women (77% of them female) received 70 hours of training covering both theoretical and practical aspects in areas such as sustainable agriculture, value chains, and green entrepreneurship. The program also provided practical training opportunities for more than 130 participants at local institutions and companies across the West Bank working in agriculture and food processing. This hands-on training enabled participants to gain direct professional experience, with several securing actual job offers at their training sites, reflecting the program’s effectiveness in bridging professional qualifications with the needs of the local labor market.

As part of its digital and technical empowerment component, participants also received specialized training from Prof. Allam Mousa, Director of the An-Najah Innovation Park, and Mr. Waleed Abu Zeina from the university’s Virtual Reality Center. Training focused on artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and augmented reality technologies, with applications in food industries, agriculture, and veterinary medicine. This added a unique dimension to the program by linking youth with cutting-edge tools of the digital revolution.

In his address, Prof. Allam Mousa emphasized the pivotal role of the An-Najah Innovation Park in supporting and empowering youth in entrepreneurship by providing an enabling environment and advanced technologies to help transform their ideas into sustainable, impactful, and productive ventures.

Dr. Al-Fares expressed her gratitude to the partner institutions supporting the project, presenting its achievements and underlining its significance in advancing the university’s vision of sustainable development and community service. She reaffirmed the university’s commitment to youth empowerment, agricultural entrepreneurship, poverty and hunger alleviation, decent work, and climate action. Dr. Al-Fares stressed that Palestinian youth—particularly young women—have demonstrated strong capabilities and genuine readiness to lead change in the Palestinian agri-food system. She also highlighted the university’s ongoing support for these initiatives through incubators and technical and professional mentoring programs.

The forum also featured presentations of winning student projects, each awarded funding of up to $15,000. A total of 37 projects from An-Najah students out of nearly 70 were selected through two competitive calls launched by FAO for program trainees, involving five Palestinian universities.

The projects spanned diverse fields such as sustainable agriculture, healthy food, aquaponics, and the development of improved livestock breeds. Among the most notable initiatives were: “Yafa Nursery,” “Dragon Fruit Garden,” “Zeina Factory,” “Safe Artificial Insemination for Sheep Project,” “Rayhana Farm,” “PetoChif,” and “Lozeina Factory.”

Participants expressed their gratitude to An-Najah National University, FAO, and the An-Najah Innovation Park for the support provided throughout training, mentorship, and implementation stages. They affirmed that this initiative represented a turning point in their personal and professional journeys, enhancing their skills, fostering self-reliance, and creating genuine employment opportunities within local communities. Ultimately, the projects contributed to strengthening a culture of entrepreneurship among Palestinian youth.