The United Nations confirms, according to its latest report issued on December 21, 2023, that the entire population of Gaza – approximately 2.2 million people – “are suffering from a crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity.” The report showed that 26% of the population (about 577,000 people) have exhausted their food supplies and adaptive capacities and are facing catastrophic hunger (IPC 5) and acute hunger.

Providing direct food aid and prepared foods in limited quantities to Gazans, despite its importance during the ongoing war, cannot be a substitute for local networks that actually produce food and work to support farmers in fulfilling their role in producing and providing healthy food to Gazans.

In this direction, many local institutions are working to ensure that part of the food production and supply chains remains local, through their networks of farmers that they have worked with and supported through their local committees in various regions of the sector over the past years, and to benefit from this role in providing an opportunity to continue this self-reliance in the next stage.