Gaza: Harvesting and fishery in disarray
Farmers and herders in the war torn Gaza Strip have abandoned their farmlands and fishing activities, severely affecting livelihoods.The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a statement warned that recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities ceased, will require significant external assistance over a long time.“The recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to […]
Farmers and herders in the war torn Gaza Strip have abandoned their farmlands and fishing activities, severely affecting livelihoods.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in a statement warned that recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities ceased, will require significant external assistance over a long time.
“The recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza’s 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agricultural infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats,” the statement read in part.
FAO and World Food Programme (WFP) lamented that Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds (broilers and layers) either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from excess restrictions.
About 64,000 heads of small ruminants were in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders’ productive assets.
In the fishery subsector, Gaza losses were estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period July 9 to August 10, equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers’ yearly catch.
Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO’s office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stressed in the statement: “Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed.”
He added that with the latest ceasefire holding, a series of field visits to agriculture sites have been initiated by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), FAO and other partners participating, as part of a broader Multi-Cluster Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) process.
Food prices in Gaza have registered significant increases for certain products such as eggs and many vegetables.