Gaza Special Edition – FAO newsletter

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION

OF THE UNITED NATIONS

February 2009

WEST BANK AND GAZA STRIP

GAZA SPECIAL EDITION

As the shaky ceasefires announced in Israel and Gaza on 17 and 18 January continue, FAO staff and partners can survey the full extent of the damage inflicted on agricultural property and assets by the recent armed conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Operation Cast Lead, lasting from 27 December until 17 January, is estimated to have caused hundreds of millions of dollars' damage to the public and private infrastructure of the Gaza Strip, and the agricultural sector is no exception to this. Fields needed for troops' access to military areas have been churned up, agricultural buildings destroyed in direct or collateral damage and livestock killed in the force of explosions. FAO estimates that almost all of Gaza's eleven thousand smallholder farms suffered damage, with thousands of them severely affected or even completely destroyed, whilst many of the three thousand Gazan fishing families have also seen their equipment and assets damaged beyond repair. This has left the 1.5 million residents of the Strip facing a shortage of fresh, nutritious, locallyproduced food, and more Gazans than ever are now relying entirely on food aid imported by humanitarian agencies. The destruction of crops, fertile land, animals, agricultural assets and key infrastructure is preventing the production and distribution of fresh food, with widespread protein and micronutrient deficiencies predicted to worsen.

In addition, the around 112 000 Gazans who depend on agricultural livelihoods are facing destitution, weakened already by the 18-month long border closure, the rising cost of inputs and the difficulties in accessing crucial markets in the West Bank, Israel and abroad.

In response to this crisis, and to prevent food security levels from slipping lower, FAO and its partners in agriculture intend to implement a number of emergency interventions through the Gaza Flash Appeal, helping Gazan farmers recover their livelihoods and providing much-needed nutritious food for the Gazan market. This newsletter provides an outline of FAO's projects to tackle the current crisis in the Gaza Strip.

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