A ceasefire may be in place, but extensive damage to Gaza鈥檚 agriculture now means that the 1.4 million people of the Gaza Strip face 鈥渁cute shortages鈥� of food, says the UN.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization that nearly all 10,000 small farms in Gaza have been damaged and many completely destroyed following attacks by Israel that started on 27 December. Some 27,500 people that depend on farming or fishing have lost land, crops, equipment, or animals.
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The FAO鈥檚 Luigi Damiani, who has surveyed the damage, told 快猫短视频 from Jerusalem that a lot of the damage was done by Israeli tanks, and the bulldozers that went with them. 鈥淥n land used to run tanks, cultivation has been wiped out, including the strawberry fields in the north,鈥� he says.
Tanks also damaged irrigation pipes and wells. 鈥淲e had just distributed small containers for crop storage,鈥� says Damiani. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e all destroyed.鈥�
Unexploded shells
Meanwhile an FAO brief says shelling (pdf format).
The tiny fishing harbour near Gaza City was 鈥渄evastated鈥� by naval barrages, says Damiani, while even in places untouched by tanks or shelling, crops and animals left untended have suffered.
Livestock may continue to die, he says, because feed is limited, and 鈥測ou can鈥檛 go grazing anywhere鈥�. This is partly because of risks from unexploded ordinance, and partly because a no-go zone inside the border has been widened from a few hundred metres to three kilometres, taking in a large chunk non-urbanised land.
Funds needed
Aid agencies such as the are bringing emergency rations into Gaza. But, the FAO says, 鈥淧eople are facing an acute shortage of nutritious, locally produced and affordable food. Meat and animal protein is generally unavailable.鈥�
Gazan farmers mainly grow fruit and vegetables, which in the past they exported to earn money for staple foods. When Gaza鈥檚 border crossings were closed by Israel in 2008, food exports, and earnings, stopped.
The FAO wants $6.5 million to start rebuilding, and to bring in seeds and fertiliser for the planting season in February, so some crops, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, might be ready in two to three months. The organisation also wants to bring in animal feed and to repair orchard irrigation to save surviving trees and herds.
