Gaza Strip: FAO secures new partnerships with Belgium, France to scale up emergency agricultural assistance
With oPt HF and FAO support, Maryam harvests zucchini from a small plot in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip. The conflict damaged about 84 percent of cropland in Khan Yunis and about 87 percent of all cropland in the Strip. Initiatives such as oPt HF and FAO’s cash-based assistance can support farmers to reactivate their agriculture production and cultivate their land.
©FAO
Jerusalem/Cairo – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has secured two new partnerships with Belgium and France as part of a wider initiative to scale up cash-based assistance to 1 000 farming households in the Gaza Strip ahead of the next growing season and enable them to restore food production.
“The agricultural families remaining in the Gaza Strip cannot afford to miss another growing season or lose another head of livestock. The generous contributions of Belgium, France and other resource partners mean the difference between Gaza farmers’ missing another growing season and restarting production and supplying fresh vegetables to the local market,” said Ciro Fiorillo, Head of Office, FAO West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s farmers and herders are ready to restart food production but urgently need support to do so. Approximately 37 percent of the cropland in the Gaza Strip is now physically accessible for rehabilitation and cultivation. This includes about 6 000 dunums (600 hectares) of undamaged land that, with necessary inputs, farmers can plant immediately without missing another growing season.
The partnerships with Belgium and France, together with other FAO resource partners through the Special Fund for Emergency and Resilience Activities (SFERA), will enable FAO to provide conditional cash assistance to help 1 000 farmers quickly purchase inputs, such as seeds, water and organic fertilizers; rehabilitate and restore agricultural land; and prevent missing another growing season.
The initiative follows the success of a FAO pilot programme, launched in summer 2025 with funding from the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF), that provided cash support to 200 farmers in Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah. The pilot enabled cultivation of an impressive 533 tonnes of fresh vegetables on small plots in six months during the conflict. Farmers who responded to a survey that assessed the impact of FAO’s support said cash assistance was critical to resuming production.
“With the continued support, trust and flexibility of our resource partners, FAO is increasing its current level of conditional cash assistance fivefold. We look forward to leveraging our existing partnerships and launching new ones to help restore local food availability and contribute to early recovery in the Gaza Strip,” added Azzam Ayasa, Head of Programme, FAO West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The newly announced assistance comes as part of long-standing partnerships FAO maintains with Belgium and France in the Gaza Strip. Since 2023, Belgium’s support is enabling FAO to distribute over 1 030 tonnes of barley fodder to more than 5 200 herding households amid the war, as well as veterinary kits. Before the conflict, FAO partnered with France and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) on a project to improve water usage and promote climate resilience among Gaza Strip’s farmers.