newsletter n.16 - Gerusalemme

agriculture & food security
Cash for work, re-establishment of greenhouses and aquaculture:
Overseas supports the farmers in Gaza
About 70% of the population in
Gaza suffer from food security
issues, among them more than
half are children. The destruction
caused by “Operation Cast Lead “
and the inaccessibility of most of
the arable land in the Gaza Strip,
have created a food emergency
difficult to solve because of the
critical shortage of water resources
and the difficulties of the local
economy, which is increasingly
dependent on international aid.
The project that OVERSEAS is
developing, through a grant from the
Italian Cooperation of 215,000 Euros,
within the Emergency Program of
2011, aims at reducing this problem by
trying to improve the living condition
of farmers and their families, acting
on the infrastructure and encouraging
the use of more effective techniques
of cultivation, to stimulate economic
production and growth. “The
agricultural infrastructure, in particular
greenhouses and pools for the collection
of rain water, have been severely affected
by the military operation - says Rosella
Bonarrigo, country representative of
Overseas - in the southern area of the
Gaza Strip, the non-rehabilitation of
such structures prevents the revival of
the agricultural sector. “
The rehabilitation and construction
of 45 greenhouses and 30 tanks, the
use of integrated aquaculture and
agriculture’s techniques (IAA) with low
environmental impact, are among the
activities aimed at setting in motion
the agricultural production, starting
with family size subsistence. “The
rehabilitation was carried out by local
workers and technicians through
activities of cash for work type - explains
the project leader Adriana Zega - in this
way we try to offer a solution, albeit
temporary, to the dramatic employment
situation in the Gaza Strip.”
Another component of the project
provides direct support to 63 families
living in areas adjacent to the buffer
zone, the 300-meter-wide “no man’s
land”, although the area at risk of
severely restricted access covers a whole
kilometer inside the territory of the Gaza
Strip. Farmers who own land within the
buffer zone have lost the right to take
advantage of these properties and are
at risk of being involved in accidents
with the Israeli army. These farmers and
their families, unable to cultivate their
own plots, find themselves in a situation
of marginalization and economic
difficulties. Overseas aims at protecting
families living in these difficult
conditions, through the distribution
of agricultural tools and small pets,
with the intention of safeguarding selfsufficiency
in food.
The fight against hunger and
malnutrition is one of the Millennium
Development Goals set by the UN. The
project that Overseas is implementing
in the Districts of Khan Younis and
Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, acts in line
with the priorities identified by the
international community in support of
the local population. However, the type
of operation performed by Overseas
in the Strip, faces problems sui generis
compared to any conventional action
to fight hunger. In fact, the political
dynamics in this land, affect more than
natural conditions.
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NEWSLETTER N.16