Agri-food crisis in Gaza: 97 per cent of arable land inaccessible following the ceasefire

“The agricultural sector in Gaza is in a state of constant decline, despite the resilience of the population,” says Rein Paulsen, Director of the FAO’s Office for Emergencies and Resilience. “Local farmers have shown that when land and inputs are available, production is possible, but the lack of access to land is preventing them from producing food, even when the land itself is intact.”

Restrictions on the import and distribution of essential agricultural inputs are a further burden: there is a shortage of seeds, fertilisers, fuel and agricultural equipment, and the few resources that are available are of very poor quality.

Livestock farmers are also struggling to obtain feed, veterinary supplies and animal health services. So much so that the FAO itself acknowledges its ‘inability’ to channel feed and other materials needed to protect and sustain herds into these areas.

Before hostilities escalated – in October 2023 - agriculture accounted for 10 per cent of Gaza’s economy and supported 560,000 people through crop production, livestock farming and fishing.

Now we’re heading towards the abyss and the alert is at its highest level. The FAO is calling for ‘urgent and sustained action to rebuild the agri-food system, ensuring access to land, facilitating the supply of essential agricultural inputs and supporting the rehabilitation of damaged agricultural land’.