APN | North Gaza Strip

28 April 2024

 

Gaza Municipality, supported by APN, has succeeded in cultivating vegetable seeds and seedlings in the municipality's nursery. This nursery was destroyed by the occupation’s bulldozers at the beginning of the aggression, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of trees and seedlings, with approximately 55,000 trees deliberately uprooted in the streets and sidewalks of Gaza City.

According to Maher Salem, the Director of the Planning and Investment Unit at the municipality and the project coordinator, the project involves planting approximately 6.5 dunums with seeds and seedlings in the nursery and designated municipal lands.  The objective is to cultivate diverse vegetable varieties, which will then be distributed by the municipality's emergency workers and other organizations to counter hunger.

Razan Zuayter, APN Chairperson, stated that this unprecedented war called for a different approach. Previously, APN's projects typically followed or preceded the aggression. However, the ongoing famine, which international organizations and relevant bodies are delaying to officially declare, has necessitated the adoption of alternative strategies. This involves collaborating with municipalities and local communities to promptly commence the cultivation of high-nutrient crops, such as vegetables.

Salem reported that the preparation and cultivation of the nursery land have commenced, with seedlings and seeds to be planted in the coming days to provide vegetables amid the Zionist occupation's starvation tactics.

Zuayter affirmed that during its two decades of operation in Palestine, APN has planted approximately 3 million fruit trees and executed diverse agricultural rehabilitation initiatives. Particularly in Gaza, close to half a million fruit trees have been planted, alongside projects focused on vegetable cultivation, rehabilitating greenhouses, constructing water collection tanks, installing beehives, repairing fishing boats, and providing fishing gear, among other projects. Through the newly launched "Revive Gaza Farmland" project, phased activities will be implemented to rehabilitate Gaza's agricultural sector.