Gaza farmers rebuild seed bank to revive native crops on dwindling farmland
Palestinian growers have reconstituted a local seed bank destroyed in the war, preserving heirloom varieties to farm the limited land that remains.
The seed bank that once stored 70 tons of native Gaza crops was wiped out in Qarara town during the 2024 conflict. Seventy-year-old farmer Salama Muhanna has led a reconstruction effort, gathering contributions from pre-war growers to amass roughly 32 heirloom seed varieties, now kept in burlap sacks and plastic containers inside a temporary tent in Deir Al-Balah. Muhanna’s team also tends seedlings in fields surrounding the tent, focusing on crops such as black-eyed peas, watermelon and sage that are better suited to the harsh local conditions than imported hybrids.
Agricultural engineer Osama Al-Mukhalalati of the International Committee of the Red Cross warns the seed bank’s output is only a fraction of the needs of Gaza’s farming sector, which previously employed about 560,000 people. Nonetheless, local growers like Mustafa and Khaled Al-Astal view the native seeds as a lifeline, especially as Israeli restrictions and the shifting "Yellow Line" limit access to fertile land and expose farmers to gunfire.
Why it matters
It shows how a war-torn community is trying to sustain food production despite severe land loss and import bans.
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