Small-scale projects offer hope for Gaza farmers rebuilding lives

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that some Gaza farmers are trying to restart their livelihoods through small rented plots and greenhouse projects after widespread wartime destruction. The feature, published from Nuseirat in the Gaza Strip on 15 Aug 2026, centers on Mohammad al-Halabi, who now tends a 300-square-metre plot in central Gaza after losing a much larger farm in Jabalia. His former land, where he grew a range of crops with his family, was bulldozed in February 2024, leaving rubble and damaged infrastructure that he says would need major rehabilitation before farming can resume.

The article says the wider agricultural sector in Gaza has been severely hit. It cites Gaza government data saying more than 87 percent of agricultural land has been destroyed, along with thousands of wells and large numbers of farms, while vegetable and fruit output has dropped sharply. A Gaza agriculture ministry official, Naser Deeb, said farmers cannot simply return to their land because soil, water systems, irrigation and supplies all need repair first. The loss has also reduced the availability of fresh produce and strained family incomes and local markets.

Another example is Mohammad Abdul Naser Hassan al-Jadba, who rented a smaller plot in Deir el-Balah after his original land became inaccessible near the “Yellow Line.” With support from a Belgian development fund, he built a greenhouse and nursery and now grows vegetables while employing two other workers. The piece presents these small projects as limited but meaningful efforts to rebuild work, income and self-reliance amid Gaza’s broader agricultural collapse.