Gaza farmland destroyed creating food crisis, UN agency warns

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has announced that nearly all farmland in the Gaza Strip has been either destroyed or rendered inaccessible after two years of conflict. This devastation has crippled the territory's agricultural sector, eliminating livelihoods and causing food prices to reach unprecedented levels.

Catastrophic Impact on Food Prices and Livelihoods

UNRWA highlighted the extreme inflation, noting that a kilogram of tomatoes now costs $15, a dramatic increase from the pre-war price of $0.60, if they can be found at all. Families who once depended on farming for both food and income now have neither, creating a dual crisis of availability and affordability even as some goods slowly return to markets.

Humanitarian Aid Falling Short of Needs

While a US-brokered ceasefire agreement stipulates that 600 aid trucks should enter Gaza daily, the Gaza Government Media Office reported that only 653 trucks have entered in total since the ceasefire began on October 10. UNRWA has stressed that an unrestricted flow of humanitarian assistance is urgently required until Gaza's agricultural capacity can be restored.

The Scale of Destruction and Loss

The collapse of food production occurs against a backdrop of widespread devastation in the Palestinian territory, where nearly 68,000 people have been killed since October 2023. The extensive damage to infrastructure and the environment has rendered large parts of the coastal enclave uninhabitable, compounding the humanitarian disaster.