Small rented plots and greenhouses are helping displaced farmers in Gaza resume agricultural work after widespread destruction of farmland and farming infrastructure. In Nuseirat, Mohammad al-Halabi is growing tomatoes and eggplants on a 300-square-metre plot after losing his approximately 40,000-square-metre farm in Jabalia.
The small projects provide different levels of support. Al-Halabi’s plot produces only a few kilogrammes of each crop, mainly for his family, while Mohammad Abdul Naser Hassan al-Jadba says a rented nursery and greenhouse in Deir el-Balah now provide about 3,000 shekels ($1,015) a month and permanent jobs for two farmers.
A smaller plot keeps one farmer connected to his work
Al-Halabi, 50, began renting land in Nuseirat at the start of the war after being displaced from northern Gaza. He grows whatever seeds and supplies he can obtain, saying agriculture remains his profession and that seeing the plants produce fruit helps him feel he can still farm.
His former land in Jabalia, where he grew strawberries, tomatoes, flowers, potatoes and eggplants with his father and four children, was bulldozed in February 2024, according to al-Halabi. The property is now covered with rubble and remnants of war, and he believes extensive rehabilitation will be needed before it can be cultivated again.
Damage reaches land, water and farm infrastructure
Data from Gaza’s Government Media Office says more than 87 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land and more than 87 percent of its greenhouses have been destroyed or damaged. The office also reports that about 8,700 agricultural wells have been put out of service and 7,748 cattle, sheep and poultry farms have been destroyed.
The same data puts annual fruit and vegetable production at approximately 20,000 tonnes, down from about 524,000 tonnes. Naser Deeb, director-general of Agricultural Extension at Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture, says recovery requires rehabilitating soil, repairing water sources and irrigation systems, and providing seeds, fertilisers and equipment.
Greenhouse funding can restore income and create jobs
Al-Jadba, 40, could not safely reach farmland in Sheikh Ajleen that ended up on the wrong side of the “Yellow Line”, the boundary behind which Israeli forces operate and control, according to the source material. He instead rented land in Deir el-Balah and established a nursery and greenhouse for tomatoes, eggplants and peppers.
Funding from a Belgian development fund helped him build the greenhouse and obtain supplies. Al-Jadba says the project changed his income from zero to around 3,000 shekels a month and allowed him to employ two farmers permanently, both of whom had previously been unemployed.
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