A Palestinian farmer inspects cucumber plants at his greenhouse in Deir al-Balah refugee camp in central Gaza Strip, on Sept. 23, 2020. Although the government weeks ago relaxed the precautionary and preventive measures, it was not enough for farmers to save their harvest of vegetables and fruits. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
by Sanaa Kamal
GAZA, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Abdullah al-Najjar, a Palestinian farmer from the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, was forced to sell his harvest of guava fruit 30 percent lower than the original price.
The 36-year-old father of four told Xinhua that he has lost his seasonal harvest as a result of the coronavirus pandemic that affected the majority of sectors in the coastal enclave.
On Aug. 24, the Hamas-ruled local authorities declared the first infections with COVID-19 and imposed a series of strict measures to curb the virus.
These moves included a full lockdown on all the governorates of the strip, ban on movement among them, and the shutting down of public institutions and private businesses.
Although the government weeks ago relaxed the precautionary and preventive measures, it was not enough for farmers to save their harvest of vegetables and fruits.
The unprecedented crisis put the young farmer in a critical situation, as he could not sell his harvest to other areas of the coastal enclave.
"I have taken care of my farms for more than six months, but I earned nothing," the young man who owns 10 dunams (10,000 square meters) of land complained.
He found himself facing the most challenging decision in his life that eventually led to selling his harvest at a much lower price to avoid further losses.
"The season is limited to two months only to harvest guava. If I do not pick up the fruit, it will be spoiled and I will bear more losses," al-Najjar said, looking at his farm.
In the past years, before the outbreak of the virus, the farmer used to sell guava at 1.2 U.S. dollars per kg. However, he has lowered the price to 0.84 dollars now.
Raid Abu Assad is another farmer with a similar story.
The 42-year-old father of six from Dir Al Balah has farmed 4 dunams of tomatoes in order to export them to Israel through the only commercial crossing Kerem Shalom.
But the new situation destroyed his plans and incurred heavy losses, he said.
"Because of the coronavirus crisis, we were prohibited from exporting the vegetables and fruits to Israel and the West Bank," Balah said. "Our crops were piled up and we were forced to sell them in local markets."
Typically, each kg of tomatoes is sold for 2 dollars, especially in the summer season. Now, it is sold for 0.35 dollars only, according to the farmer.
For his part, Adham al-Basiouny, the spokesman of the Hamas-run agriculture ministry, told Xinhua that the agriculture sector in the strip has lost hundreds of millions of dollars until now.
He added that the consequences of the new virus have hit about 1,080 dunams that are owned by more than 35,000 farmers.
However, both Najjar and Balah criticized the performance of the ministries of agriculture and economy, saying they control the prices of the crops without providing any of the essential services. Enditem
