Snow Storm’s Damages to the Agricultural Sector
The Union of Agricultural Work Committees’ emergency committees reported the damages of the snow storm (January 7th till January 11th) on the agricultural sector. The emergency committees in the West Bank and Gaza Strip documented the snow storm damages to support the effected farmers’ families in all possible ways.
The emergency committee in Gaza stated that the storm caused damage to a number of greenhouses, destruction of agricultural roads because of flooding and soil erosion, in addition to damage to agricultural crops in open areas especially ground barriers.
The emergency committee in Gaza explained that the damages of berries were the largest. Water flooded on 5 dunums and sand covered 1 dunum in Bet lahia. Al-Ankah noted that the storm arrived in the berries harvesting season for exportation to international markets.
The committee also highlighted the damages on the fishing sector. The storm caused the loss of 200 fishing nets and damaged a number of fishing boats. Moreover the storm damaged 29 fishing rooms in which 19 of them are fully damaged.
In the West Bank, the emergency committee stated that the wind caused damages to several greenhouses in the north of the West Bank. While the frost caused damages to crops in the Jordan Valley.
The emergency committee in the West Bank explained that the storm caused complete and partial damages to greenhouses that cover 2300 dunums in the governorates of Jenin, Hebron, Qalqilia, Toubas and Nablus. On the other hand, the frost caused the damage of crops in Jenin, Qalqilia, Jericho and the Jordan Valley, Toubas, Nabuls and Tulkarem on a total area that covers 19000 dunums.
It is important to note that the first phase of the emergency response program was launched in Gaza. UAWC distributed 2975 meters of Plastic to rehabilitate 31 damaged greenhouses. The emergency response is within “Strengthening the resilience of the community” project funded by Australian Aid and in partnership with World Vision.