Farming to survive after two years of war | BBC News — Transcript

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1. 0:00Two years of war has not only devastated
2. 0:02Gaza's infrastructure, but also its
3. 0:04ability to feed itself.
4. 0:07The food supply is unreliable. Prices
5. 0:09are high, and even for those who can
6. 0:11afford it, there's little choice in what
7. 0:14to eat.
8. 0:16Many gardens have turned to growing
9. 0:17their own food. And a small seed bank
10. 0:20funded by the International Committee of
11. 0:21the Red Cross is helping to give farmers
12. 0:24some security.
13. 0:27>> The Gaza Strip is besieged and
14. 0:28completely closed. Some seeds were close
15. 0:30to extension and some have already
16. 0:32disappeared. So we try to preserve them.
17. 0:35We achieve self-sufficiency. I become a
18. 0:37producer. I become able to overcome the
19. 0:40loss of some seeds and the disappearance
20. 0:42from the market.
21. 0:44>> Salama Muhammad and his daughter
22. 0:46Hernandi started the seed bankank
23. 0:47project in 2017 to collect local seeds
24. 0:50and give farmers a reliable supply. It
25. 0:53was destroyed when Israeli forces
26. 0:55advanced into Gaza in 2024.
27. 0:58Now from a tent, Salama and Hannady have
28. 1:01started again.
29. 1:04>> The war pushed most residents of the
30. 1:05Gaza Strip toward agriculture. Whether
31. 1:08farming next to tents, in home gardens,
32. 1:10or in rooftops for those who were not
33. 1:12displaced. Almost every individual in
34. 1:15Gaza practiced agriculture during the
35. 1:17war over the past three years. This was
36. 1:20due to the high prices of vegetables in
37. 1:22the market and their scarcity. Some
38. 1:24people could not even afford to buy a
39. 1:26kilo of tomatoes or a kilo of chart. The
40. 1:29prices were extremely high.
41. 1:32>> But this project accounts for only a
42. 1:34tiny fraction of Gaza's food needs.
43. 1:37Israel says, going by UN guidelines,
44. 1:39that four times the estimated food
45. 1:42needed has entered Gaza since a
46. 1:44ceasefire with Hamas was struck last
47. 1:46year. I
48. 1:47>> mean, I spoke with a farmer.
49. 1:48>> The International Committee of the Red
50. 1:50Cross says the situation isn't good
51. 1:51enough. Foreign journalists aren't
52. 1:53allowed into Gaza. So I talked to their
53. 1:55spokesman of the territory remotely.
54. 1:57>> Farming in Gaza, it's an incredibly
55. 2:00difficult situation right now. There is
56. 2:02very little space. Uh the soil that is
57. 2:06available um is has been reused again
58. 2:09and again. So that is nutri it's very
59. 2:12poor. The soil itself is exhausted as
60. 2:15are the farmers. And then on top of that
61. 2:16you have the restrictions and what is
62. 2:18able to be brought in to support
63. 2:20agriculture in Gaza itself. No seeds, no
64. 2:23fertilizer, no nursery soil to support
65. 2:25new seeds.
66. 2:27Despite these challenges, Salama and
67. 2:29Hannady's work is starting to take root,
68. 2:32and farmers in Gaza for now have
69. 2:35options.