New Delhi: The violence in Gaza has brought local food production to a halt as 17,000 hectares of farmland have been damaged substantially forcing farmers and herders to abandon their lands, according to the UN body FAO.
With local food production halted and food imports curtailed, virtually the entire population of Gaza (about 1.8 million people) is currently dependent on food aid, while food prices in Gaza have registered a sharp increase for certain products such as eggs and vegetables, it said in a statement.
"Recovery in the agriculture sector, once hostilities cease, will require significant external assistance over the long term," the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
"....Resumption of food production faces serious obstacles given the damages sustained and shortages of water, electricity, inputs and financial resources, as well as ongoing uncertainty regarding the possible resumption of military activities," said Ciro Fiorillo, head of FAO's office in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Up to now, ongoing military operations have prevented detailed assessments of damages to agriculture from being completed, he said.
The current five-day ceasefire in Gaza by both Israel and Palestine is due to end tonight at midnight.
According to the FAO, the recent fighting has resulted in substantial direct damage to Gaza's 17,000 hectares of croplands as well as much of its agri-infrastructure, including greenhouses, irrigation systems, animal farms, fodder stocks and fishing boats.
The violence in the region has forced farmers and herders to abandon their lands and has paralysed fishing activities, bringing local food production to a halt and severely affecting livelihoods, it said.
As per the latest update by the FAO-World Food Programme (WFP)-coordinated Food Security Sector(FSS), Gaza has lost half of its population of poultry birds either due to direct hits on their shelters or lack of water, feed or care resulting from access restrictions.
Around 64,000 head of small ruminants are in need of animal feed and water in order to avoid further animal deaths and the additional erosion of herders' productive assets.
Meanwhile losses by Gaza's fishing sector so far are estimated at 234.6 tonnes over the period July 9-August 10 -- equivalent to 9.3 percent of local fishers' yearly catch.
With farming affected in the region, the FAO said that food prices have risen sharply "from a 40 percent increase in the price of eggs to a 42 percent increase for potatoes to a 179 percent spike in the price of tomatoes."
The Gaza Strip imports most of what it eats -- however locally produced food represents an important source of nutritious and affordable food, and some 28,600 households in Gaza rely on farming (19,000 households), livestock raising (6,000) and fishing (3,600) for their livelihoods.
