Rebuilding Women Owned Farms Of Gaza
Sustain is campaigning for solidarity with women agripreneurs of Gaza so they can realize their aspirations for food sovereignty - an independent and resilient food system for Palestine and all Palestinians. Following the bombings and eleven day aerial assault of May 2021, $50 million of vegetables, field crops and fruit trees were destroyed. Another $9 million of greenhouses & crops was lost, and over $11 million worth of livestock farming. Amongst these devastating losses, over half of the women owned farms & agrienterprises of Gaza were partially or completely destroyed. These loses worsened already existing vulnerabilities and the marginalization of female agripreneurs in Gaza. Eleven days of bombing diminished many of the economic & empowerment gains that they painstakingly achieved over decades.
Photo: am JD/Unsplash
Women agripreneurs in Gaza have shown amazing resilience in challenging circumstances, and continue to work towards achieving food security and food sovereignty for their communities. UWAF provides a dedicated platform for women to express and unite their voices, and where success and resilience stories are shared. The Gaza Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP) provides support to UWAF for capacity building, and skills, marketing and management development, as well, direct in-kind support for existing enterprises to enhance resilience and to positively cope with crisis conditions. In The Gaza Strip, there are over 1000 women-led, small-scale agri-enterprises. These farms and agri-enterprises maintain seed banks of locally cultivated crops & produce a great diversity of foodstuffs - fresh vegetables & fruit, herbs, salted fish, poultry, eggs, mushrooms, cheeses, olive oil, honey and traditional ingredients such as ajweh (date paste), maftool (hand rolled couscous), stevia sweetner, jam and pickles. Products are sold at local markets and make a critically important contribution to the resilience of the local food system by ensuring regular access to healthy and nutritious food to the vulnerable people of Gaza.
In May 2021, it is estimated that over half of these enterprises were either partially or completely destroyed in the conflict, overlaying already existing vulnerabilities and marginalisation of women agripreneurs in Gaza, highlighting the inequalities in their ability to resist the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Funds raised will support 50 women agripreneurs prioritised for urgent assistance. Variously, funds will be used for new machinery, transportation facilities, communication and marketing costs, and training support, and as well, to purchase vital resources for the use of a safe, meeting space, a home for women agripeneurs as a centre to conduct learning, sharing and business operations that develop efforts towards local food security and food sovereignty. The women are also organising a food basket program with locally grown and nutritious food, to provide relief to families who have fallen on difficult times due to the impacts of conflicts.
Meet some of the women agripreneurs making a change in Gaza.
Photo: am JDUnsplash