In a tent at a displacement camp, agronomist Salama Ayesh Muhanna is rebuilding the seed bank destroyed in the conflict to protect Palestine's agricultural heritage and help farmers.
According to an Ipc report, at least 1.2 million people in Gaza are currently experiencing severe food insecurity. Despite growing alarm among humanitarian organisations, Israel continues to block access to agricultural land and the import of seeds and fertilisers. Agricultural activity is further hampered by water scarcity and soil degradation; moreover, the presence of explosive remnants makes working the land dangerous.
As reported by the Fao, before the Israeli attacks agriculture accounted for around 10 per cent of Gaza's economy, with more than 560,000 people depending entirely or partially on agricultural production, livestock farming or fishing for their livelihoods. Today, less than 5 per cent of the Gaza Strip's agricultural land remains available for cultivation.
Against this desperate backdrop, agronomist Salama Ayesh Muhanna is carrying forward the Al-Qarara seed bank project. It had been launched in 2017 when Muhanna owned a spacious house, olive trees and land of his own: over time he had stockpiled 70 tonnes of seeds of various varieties, including black-eyed peas, watermelon and sage; he had refrigerators, a dryer, and machinery for cleaning and sorting seeds. Everything was destroyed in 2024 during the bombings, but after being displaced to Deir al-Balah, Muhanna and his daughter Hanadi, 38, who studies agriculture and food sovereignty online, together with other farmers, returned to work to rebuild the seed collections.
The family lives in a tent at a displacement camp and has set aside another tent for storing seeds in jute sacks and plastic containers: there are local varieties of wheat and vegetables such as okra and spinach. Muhanna and other farmers also grow seedlings in the fields surrounding the tent. Among the many challenges, the project also has to contend with climate change: sometimes sowing has to be delayed beyond the usual time, pushing back harvests in a race against the clock to accumulate seeds. Before the conflict, the seed bank held 42 varieties of local seeds; there are now around thirty.
The seed bank project pursues two main objectives. The first is to collect and preserve seeds from local plants, which have proven better suited to thriving in this territory because they are more resistant to drought, fungi and pests. The second is to create a seed distribution centre for farmers in Deir al-Balah who commit to returning the same quantity after the harvest.
So far, around 200 farmers have benefited from the seeds provided by Muhanna, with the support of the International Committee of the Red Cross. As well as increasing stocks of native seeds and protecting Palestine's agricultural heritage, the initiative helps Palestinian farmers to regain autonomy and self-sufficiency, enabling them to provide for their families despite restrictions on resources and humanitarian aid.
"The seed bank represents just a drop in the ocean compared to the needs of the agricultural sector," Osama Al-Mukhalalati, an agricultural engineer with the International Committee of the Red Cross, told Reuters. For many people in Gaza, however, seeds have become the only lifeline. "The war has destroyed my hopes," Muhanna told the Guardian. "Seeds are my identity, my patriotism, my nationality." For Muhanna, when they succeed in establishing sovereignty over food security, Palestine will be a true country.
