Gaza's agriculture is collapsing

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Al Nuseirat – Gaza is facing an unprecedented environmental and agricultural crisis. Continuous bombings have drastically reduced agricultural land to the point where food production has become almost impossible. The soil is suffering severe contamination and structural degradation due to bombings, rubble and military activities, increasing the risks of desertification and erosion. At the same time, biodiversity is gradually collapsing as the ecosystems which once guaranteed livelihoods continue to deteriorate: Gaza's agricultural crisis will take years to recover from, assuming recovery is even possible.

Veleni nel suolo: l’eredità della War

Il danno non si limita alla distruzione immediata. L’inquinamento ambientale lascia effetti duraturi sul suolo, sull’acqua e sulle falde acquifere sotterranee, con conseguenze che potrebbero persistere per decenni. I residuati bellici, i metalli pesanti e le macerie non solo distruggono i raccolti, ma introducono tossine nella catena alimentare, minacciando la salute sia degli esseri umani che degli animali e trasformando la terra da fonte di nutrimento a fardello contaminato.

Con il crollo dell’agricoltura, anche l’economia è crollata, scuotendo le fondamenta stesse della società. Prima della guerra, il settore agricolo garantiva il sostentamento a migliaia di famiglie e costituiva un pilastro fondamentale dell’economia di Gaza. Oggi, la maggior parte dei terreni agricoli è inaccessibile; i raccolti, le serre e i pozzi sono stati distrutti e la dipendenza dagli aiuti umanitari continua ad aumentare.

Jamal's birds: when life is reduced to an empty cage

All’interno di una piccola tenda nel centro di Gaza, Jamal Salama (40 anni) ha aperto la sua gabbia come se voltasse una pagina del suo passato. Un tempo gli uccelli riempivano la sua casa di canti, e lui se ne prendeva cura come se fossero membri della sua famiglia. Ma la guerra ne ha ridotto il numero e ha appesantito le sue mattine di dolore.

«L’farming degli uccelli era la mia unica fonte di reddito», dice Salama. «Ora non c’è mangime, né medicine, e le vendite scarseggiano… Ho perso circa 50.000 shekel». In mancanza di cibo adeguato, ha dovuto ricorrere a macinare pane e bulgur, nutrire gli uccelli con erbe selvatiche e liberarne alcuni affinché non morissero di Fame nelle gabbie.

The birds were no longer just a hobby; they had become a symbol of resilience at a time when everything else had crumbled. Yet the war had turned them from a source of joy into a burden.

Biodiversity on the brink of extinction

Nonostante le sue piccole dimensioni, Gaza un tempo ospitava centinaia di specie di uccelli, mammiferi e rettili. Oggi, molti di essi rischiano l’estinzione o la migrazione forzata. I bombardamenti, lo sgombero dei terreni e la distruzione ambientale hanno spazzato via i loro habitat naturali, compresi gli alberi secolari che un tempo preservavano la fertilità del suolo, riducendo la biodiversità a semplici cifre nei rapporti delle organizzazioni.

In a painful paradox, as people consume birds for survival, those same birds pay the price of war with their lives and their natural habitats.

«My land has vanished into nothing.»

In Al-Mawasi, west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, farmer Rabee Al-Karzon stood outside his tent, recalling his land, which before the war had been a thriving farm producing tomatoes, cucumbers, and molokhia. With a pained look at photos of devastation on his phone, he gestured to the tank tracks scarring the soil and said, «Ninety-seven dunams of my land have vanished into nothing... this was our daily bread, and it’s gone now.».

Al-Karzon relied on the cultivation of his land for his daily income. Today, however, he has lost his entire livelihood after tanks and heavy machinery destroyed his crops at the start of the offensive. The crops that once fed his family and were sold in local markets have been crushed.

Looking up at the sky, he asks, his voice laden with grief and suffering: «Were we not human beings who deserved to cultivate our own land and feed ourselves from its fruits?».

The numbers of devastation: FAO and UNOSAT data

The loss of Rabee Al-Karzon is not an isolated case, but part of the widespread devastation that has affected agriculture throughout the Gaza Strip. According to a joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT), over 80% of agricultural land has suffered severe damage, whilst 77.8% has become inaccessible due to security risks and rubble.

L’area coltivabile si è ridotta da 688 ettari (4,6%) ad aprile a 232 ettari (1,5%) ad agosto 2025, lasciando il 98,5% del territorio di fatto inutilizzabile. Le serre non sono state risparmiate: il 71,2% è stato danneggiato, con perdite che raggiungono il 100% nella parte settentrionale di Gaza. Inoltre, l’82,8% dei pozzi agricoli è stato danneggiato, aggravando la crisi dell’irrigazione e accelerando il degrado del suolo.

Queste perdite riflettono non solo la distruzione dei raccolti e delle aziende agricole, ma lo smantellamento dell’intero sistema agricolo e alimentare di Gaza, con conseguenze a lungo termine per la sicurezza alimentare e l’economia locale. L’inquinamento derivante da residuati bellici, macerie e metalli pesanti si infiltra nel suolo e nelle acque sotterranee, entrando nella catena alimentare e raggiungendo sia gli esseri umani che gli animali, creando rischi per la salute che potrebbero durare per generazioni.

With agricultural infrastructure, greenhouses, and wells destroyed, land restoration becomes a long and complex process. In the meantime, farmers cannot return due to ongoing shelling and unexploded ordnance, turning the land from a source of livelihood into a contaminated burden threatening Gaza's future.

An irreversible structural collapse

Agricultural expert Nizar Al-Waheidi warns that the destruction of Gaza's agricultural infrastructure will not be limited to the loss of a single season but will create long-term structural changes in the local food system. The widespread destruction of farmland, greenhouses, and water wells is pushing the food production chain towards collapse, meaning local production can no longer meet residents' needs as it once did.

According to Al-Waheidi, this situation will push the Strip towards almost total dependence on external aid, with a reduction in food diversity and an increase in prices, exacerbating hunger and setting Gaza back years in the recovery of productive self-sufficiency. Damage to greenhouses and wells hinders agricultural recovery even after the end of fighting, as both were essential for protecting crops and ensuring irrigation in conditions of water scarcity. Consequently, food security remains threatened in the long term.

Animals and farming: a sector wiped out

Altrove, Marwan Al-Astal a Khan Younis ha perso un allevamento di Poultry e pecore che gli garantiva un reddito stabile. Dopo la distruzione delle strutture veterinarie e il deterioramento delle scorte di mangime, ora fatica a provvedere al sostentamento della sua famiglia e del bestiame. “Ciò che resta dei miei polli e del mio gregge di pecore sopravvive a malapena. Non posso più fornire mangime, né tantomeno cure agli animali», afferma.

FAO reports confirm that Gaza's livestock infrastructure has suffered extensive damage, including poultry farms, cattle and sheep sheds, and other facilities. This has led to a near-total collapse in the production of meat, dairy, and eggs, forcing many farmers to abandon their projects or to no longer be able to continue.

560,000 lives cut short: the human cost of the agricultural crisis

Before the conflict, Gaza’s agricultural sector supported around 560,000 people and accounted for 10% of the Strip’s economy. Today, most of these people are at risk of losing their livelihoods, with cattle, sheep, poultry and fish farms destroyed and production drastically reduced.

The cultures In the fields, vegetable crops and orchards have suffered damage estimated at between 80 and 89%, threatening food security across the entire Strip and increasing dependence on humanitarian aid. The devastation has extended beyond land and livestock to affect people’s daily lives, as farmers can no longer access their fields, obtain feed and fertiliser, or even care for their animals due to the ongoing bombardments and unexploded ordnance.

A structural economic shock

L’economista Ahmed Abu Qamar ritiene che la distruzione dell’agricoltura a Gaza non solo incida sulla produzione e sull’Employment, ma provochi anche uno shock strutturale all’economia locale. Con la perdita di aziende agricole e infrastrutture, scompare una delle principali fonti di liquidità e reddito, aumentando la dipendenza dalle importazioni e dagli aiuti, facendo lievitare i costi alimentari e alimentando l’inflazione e la povertà.

He adds that recovery will not be possible without massive investments in agricultural infrastructure and long-term financing for farmers; otherwise, agriculture will remain a weak sector, unable to support economic recovery.

Invisible contamination: a threat that persists over time

Beyond the direct destruction of land, crops, and farms, the conflict presents a long-term environmental threat to Gaza. Projectile and rocket remnants, rubble, and heavy metals spread through the soil and seep into groundwater and irrigation water, creating contamination that is difficult to remediate.

These toxic substances do not stay put. They gradually enter the food chain, moving from plants to animals and finally to humans, creating potential health risks that could persist for decades, including developmental disorders, chronic diseases, and respiratory and reproductive problems.

Environmental specialist Saeed Al-Aklouk warns that contaminated soil could gradually lose its fertility, making land remediation a long and complex process that requires removing pollutants, restoring the soil, and replanting vegetation to protect it from erosion. With ongoing bombings and the presence of unexploded ordnance, it is difficult for farmers to safely return to their fields or conduct accurate assessments of contamination levels.

Al-Aklouk warns that this pollution makes the agricultural sector more fragile and increases the likelihood that the food security crisis will persist even after the fighting ends, as it could take many years for the land to become suitable for production again. In this context, environmental contamination becomes one of the most serious threats to Gaza's food future, not just today, but for generations to come.

$2.8 billion in losses

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, Engineer Mohammed Abu Odeh, stated that financial losses in the agricultural sector are estimated at around 2.8 billion dollars and that over 90% of agricultural land has been damaged or rendered unproductive. He added that olive production has fallen by up to 92% and that agricultural infrastructure, wells and agricultural services have effectively collapsed.

Gaza is his/her land

La distruzione a Gaza non prende di mira solo le persone, ma la terra stessa: fattorie, serre e pozzi sono stati distrutti, e il suolo e l’acqua sono stati contaminati da residuati bellici, minacciando la sicurezza alimentare a lungo termine. Mentre gli organismi internazionali documentano le perdite, il Centro Al Mezan per i diritti umani invita la community internazionale a proteggere i civili e le loro risorse. Gaza non è semplicemente un luogo dove vivono delle persone; è la terra che le nutre e plasma il futuro dei loro figli. Se lasciata alla devastazione, le sue cicatrici dureranno per decenni.