FAO / GAZA AGRICULTURAL DAMAGE

With farmers, herders and fishers in the Gaza Strip struggling to reactivate production and rebuild livelihoods despite the ceasefire, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) calls for a scaleup in the entry of emergency agricultural assistance via commercial and humanitarian channels. FAO

• Video Length: 00:02:22
• Production Date: 11 February 2026
• Asset Language: Arabic
• Corporate Name: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION - FAO
• Subject Topical: AGRICULTURE; FOOD SECURITY; HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES
• Geographic Subject: GAZA
• MAMS Id: 3534369
• Parent Id: 3534369
• Alternate Title: unifeed260211b

Description

STORY: FAO / GAZA AGRICULTURAL DAMAGE
TRT: 02:22
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT FAO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 24 DECEMBER 2025, GAZA STRIP

Shotlist

1. Tracking shot, destroyed greenhouses
2. Med shot, FAO staff talking with farmers to assess damage to agricultural infrastructure
3. Wide shot, FAO staff and farmers walking amid destroyed greenhouses
4. Close up, agricultural nursery owner Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal checking damaged frames of his former greenhouses and sheep and goat farms.
5. Med shot, agricultural nursery owner Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal talking with FAO staff
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal, Agricultural Nursery Owner: “Nothing is available. No plants, no trays, no soil, no equipment, and no greenhouses. Nothing. It is all gone.”
7. Wide shot, agricultural nursery owner Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal checking damaged frames of his former greenhouses and sheep and goat farms.
8. Med shot, agricultural nursery owner Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal checking damaged frames of his former greenhouses
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal, Agricultural Nursery Owner:
“I used to produce about two to three million seedlings a year. I served the entire area from Rafah to Wadi Gaza; farmers would come from everywhere to buy from us.”
10. Med shot, sick sheep
11. Tracking shot, Mohammed Abu Amra, herder and owner of poultry farm, checking health condition of a sick sheep.
12. Close up, Mohammed Abu Amra, herder, checking health condition of a sick sheep
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Abu Amra, Herder:
“I had 15 sheep and 10 lambs. I raised them every year, but now I’m down to just three. Between the disease and the lack of straw and feed, there is simply no food, intestinal poisoning killed them. They all died. I am left with only three.”
14. Close up, poultry trying to eat from an empty feeder
15. Wide shot, Mohammed Ramadan Najjar, chicken farmer, feeding his chickens
16. Close up, checking the health of a chicken
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Ramadan Najjar, Chicken Farmer: “I am down to 1,000 chickens from the original 5,000. Five cartons of eggs don't even cover the cost of their feed. They need medication, but everything in the market is expired. We urgently need fresh medicine.”
18. Med shot, herder taking a bag of animal fodder at FAO distribution
19. Tracking shot, herder bringing the fodder to his farm
20. Med shot, herder opening the bag of animal fodder
21. Med shot, herder feeding his sheep
22. Med shot, displaced people walking amid tents
23. Wide shot, tents among destroyed buildings

Storyline

With farmers, herders and fishers in the Gaza Strip struggling to reactivate production and rebuild livelihoods despite the ceasefire, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) calls for a scaleup in the entry of emergency agricultural assistance via commercial and humanitarian channels. Opening commercial channels (Israel, Egypt and West Bank) in particular, would lower production costs, kickstart crop and livestock production, and promote social stability.

The call comes as the local food system remains shattered by the widespread destruction of cropland, farming infrastructure (greenhouses and irrigation wells), fishing assets (boats and ports) and livestock herds.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal, Agricultural Nursery Owner:
“Almost nothing is available. No plants, no trays, no soil, no equipment, and no greenhouses. Nothing. It is all gone.”

Before the conflict, Gaza had low rates of malnutrition, it produced much of its red meat, olive oil and fruits and was self-sufficient in locally consumed vegetables, eggs, milk, poultry, and fresh fish.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yassin Mohammed Ahmed Al-Astal, Agricultural Nursery Owner:
“I used to produce about two to three million seedlings a year. I served the entire area from Rafah to Wadi Gaza; farmers would come from everywhere to buy from us.”

Due to the severe shortage of animal feed and a critical lack of veterinary supplies, vital livestock survival rates have plummeted to only 33 percent of goats and around 20 percent for sheep compared with pre-conflict levels. Only 0.5 percent of cattle have survived.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Abu Amra, Herder:
“I had 15 sheep and 10 lambs. I raised them every year, but now I’m down to just three. Between the disease and the lack of straw and feed, there is simply no food, intestinal poisoning killed them. They all died. I am left with only three.”

The survival rate for poultry stands at only 11.4 percent, with the vast majority of remaining farms unable to operate due to shortages of electricity and feed. Consequently, egg production is scarce and expensive, directly impacting the availability of fresh food sources.

Mohammed Ramadan Najjar once had a farm with 5, 000 chickens. He is now left with only 1,000 birds that produce just five cartons of eggs a day (150 eggs), which is insufficient to cover expenses or provide for his family.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammed Ramadan Najjar, chicken farmer:
“I am down to 1,000 chickens from the original 5,000. Five cartons of eggs don't even cover the cost of their feed. They need medication, but everything in the market is expired. We urgently need fresh medicine.”

Since the ceasefire on 10 October 2025, families in Gaza who depend on livestock and small-scale farming for milk, meat, and financial security have been struggling to keep what little they have left alive.

FAO has supported this effort by delivering more than 1,800 metric tonnes of animal feed and providing about 2,300 veterinary kits to livestock holders, helping these families prevent the collapse of their remaining livelihoods. FAO’s emergency cash assistance has reached 2,016 herders, allowing them to buy feed, medicines, and basic inputs when markets are still functioning, but prices remain out of reach. A recently completed pilot initiative also provided cash assistance to 200 farmers, helping to safeguard their remaining assets and restore production.

To sustain these critical livelihoods, where livestock assets provide families with milk and a vital source of financial security, FAO carried out a sixth round of feed distribution in late January, reaching over 2,000 small ruminant holders.

Acute food insecurity and malnutrition remain alarmingly high in the Gaza Strip. Around 1.6 million people, 77 percent of the population, experiencing severe hunger, classified as IPC Phase 3 or above.

Results of FAO’s recent support to farmers and herders demonstrate that when families receive timely support, recovery is possible through reactivating local food production and rebuilding food security. FAO also recently completed a pilot cash assistance initiative that enabled 200 farmers to cultivate fresh, nutritious vegetables on small plots and yielded upwards of 500 tonnes within six months. A survey focused on FAO’s support to the 2,016 livestock holders found that cash assistance has not only helped prevent further livestock deaths but boosted herd growth. For approximately 10 percent of herding families, small ruminants, often a key source of milk and protein, have started reproducing again. This natural herd recovery is currently the only path to rebuilding livestock assets.

These results underline a simple truth: local farmers and herders are central to restoring food security. Emergency aid can save lives, but reviving local food production at scale is the only sustainable way to reduce hunger and dependence on external assistance.

To achieve this, both commercial and humanitarian imports of agricultural inputs must be facilitated. This would lower high production costs for vegetables and livestock, boosting incomes, nutrition and social stability.

The needs remain high. The agricultural and food security sector requires USD 10.499 billion for recovery. Restoring agricultural production and markets alone requires USD 2.2 billion following the destruction of croplands, greenhouses, irrigation systems, livestock shelters, and fishing gear, which has decimated local food production.

FAO’s emergency distributions of animal feed and veterinary kits are funded by the governments of Italy and Belgium. Cash assistance to herders is funded by the European Union and Ireland, while cash support to farmers is funded by Belgium, France and the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund.

Note to editors: The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) is the global standard for measuring food insecurity. The scale runs from Phase 1 (Minimal) to Phase 5 (Famine), with IPC Phase 3 indicating a Crisis and IPC Phase 4 an Emergency situation.