FAO report: Gaza faces food collapse as 80% of farmland damaged

Gaza’s food production is collapsing, with more than 80% of farmland damaged and most green houses destroyed according to the FAO of the United Nations. Its new report says, nearly the entire population faces severe food insecurity, prompting urgent calls for humanitarian aid to prevent famine.

Gaza’s ability to produce food is nearing total collapse, with less than five percent of cropland still usable, according to a new joint assessment by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

As of April 2025, more than 80 percent of farmland had been damaged and nearly 78 percent was inaccessible. Just 688 hectares out of over 15,000 remain available for cultivation. The situation is particularly severe in Rafah and the northern governorates, where nearly all farmland cannot be reached.

Widespread destruction has also hit greenhouses, with over 70 percent damaged. Rafah experienced the sharpest rise in destruction, jumping from 57.5 percent in December 2024 to 86.5 percent in April. In Gaza City, all greenhouses have been destroyed.

One farmer, Oudai Issa Abdelrahman Al Faleet, who previously received an FAO project grant, said his family installed greenhouses on 8,000 square metres of land, but the war disrupted everything. He added that "two dunams of greenhouses were bulldozed, and the rest were damaged. The well and the agricultural warehouse, including all inputs, were also destroyed."

Before the war, agriculture contributed around 10 percent to Gaza’s economy and supported over half a million people. Earlier this year, the FAO estimated total losses in the sector at more than 2 billion dollars, with recovery needs around 4.2 billion. The collapse of the ceasefire has likely worsened those figures.

At the same time, a new food security analysis shows that Gaza’s entire population of about 2.1 million people is facing a critical risk of famine. Between April 1 and May 10, 93 percent were experiencing Crisis-level food insecurity or worse. Nearly 250,000 are already in Phase 5, classified as Catastrophe, a level where starvation is already taking place.

According to projections, around 470,000 people, or 22 percent of the population, could face catastrophic food insecurity between May and September 2025.

The UN is urging immediate humanitarian access and the lifting of restrictions to prevent a full-scale famine.

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