Organic rooftops farm in Palestinian Refugee Camps

Since our last report, Lebanon is doing nothing else than falling into a hole that seems having no bottom. Population is exhausted by the continuous high inflation, the consequences of the Beirut blasts that are still after 1year left without answers, the pandemic that doesn’t seem to end and, more recently, with new consequences of a complete fall down of the state; lack of medicine, lack of basic food, lack of electricity and fuel having consequences on many level of life. The refugee populations are part of the millions suffering from extreme poverty today, and even more than 3 months ago.

Lebanon’s recovery is not anymore something people expect. They are now fighting daily to keep a semblance of “normal” life. Awaiting hours to refill their car tank, awaiting electricity to come to perform basic household activities, praying family members living out of Lebanon to send them medicines, paying unaffordable amount to be able cooking basic vegetarian meals as meat is not anymore an option for the majority.

The Urban Rooftop Farming Project launched by Jafra is still on and growing monthly, thanks to the participation of donors. This will allow now to increase our rooftop number to 20 more. It makes a total of around 70 owners to have access to various crops and some to protein via the poultry raising. All participants of the project are receiving training then continuous follow-up from an agronomist to help with improving organically the cultivations and keep the plants sane.

The rooftop owners are beginning to share their harvest with their neighbors which also creates a sense of cooperation and mutual aid which strengthens the bonds in the community.

Your contributions are still very important. We need to keep increasing the number of rooftops farms and your help is also much appreciated to maintain the existing ones by sometimes providing water, soil, seeds, natural solution to fight diseases, pots and tools. We are working to provide the camp population their food autonomy, the only solution to mitigate undernutrition. 

Links:

• The Story of Nassem on his Planted Rooftop

Lebanon keeps sinking into an abysmal abyss; the high inflation, the currency having lost 90 per cent of its value, the Beirut explosion still leaving scars and the pandemic are achieving to put the country on its knees. Being communities suffering marginalization and uncertainty for decades, the refugee camps populations are part of the millions suffering from extreme poverty today.

There are no signs of the pressures easing up for Lebanon. Thus no sign for the people to retrieve an acceptable level of life. Lockdowns and the obligation to close businesses are leaving people with no income at all and whole families are left to themselves. Eating 3 times a day became a luxury for many.

The Urban Rooftop Farming Project launched a bit more than a year ago allows the rooftops owners to provide their families with basic food like crops (following the seasonality) and eggs, letting them get a least one healthy meal per day. Through trainings and follow-up, they learnt to be sustainable and to become more autonomous.

Today, thanks to donors’ efforts, we are proud to announce that the project is growing; with spring on the door, 43 new rooftops in 3 different locations are being prepared to produce crops. The project will now include not only the rooftops owners and their family but the neighbors from the same building will also be receiving part of the harvest for their consumption.

Trainings did not stop and will continue; all rooftops will benefit from an agricultural engineer follow-up during 1 year. He will invite participants of the Urban Rooftop project to deal with organic agriculture, using natural crops boosters and natural pest control.

Your contributions are very important. Increasing furthermore the number of rooftops farms and trying to use empty lands around the camps will help the communities to simply survive, as they can become less dependent on the market which became unaffordable for them. 

Links:

• Regular Info on our FaceBook page
• To get to know us better

Today in Lebanon, people are hopeless and feel they endure a lot for a single people; financial crisis, unrest, pandemic and Beirut explosion that finished to put the country on its knees. For camps inhabitants, jobs are lost since a long time now, while less and less people can expect financial help from relatives living abroad, due to the Global pandemic issue which lets refugees worldwide in a dire situation and unable to help their relatives still in the Middle-East.

Giving inhabitants the opportunity to retrieve contact with earth, the natural and simple ways to grow crops and the ability to be self-sufficient became for Jafra Foundation a priority.

Through the Rooftop Farming project in Palestinian Camps, Jafra could, during the last months, improve the skills people need to master in order to grow sustainable farming projects. Training procedures and follow-up on families’ rooftops became regular. Check Nazmieh for example, she was having an empty rooftop and now she can eat from what she planted on it!

Very soon, the project will take a new level as we are planning to cooperate with an INGO to increase the number of Rooftop Farms in 3 different Palestinian camps of Lebanon. You can help the beneficiaries to go smoothly through winter by helping us providing them the material to create greenhouses to avoid flood and cold affecting their crops and livestock.

10^th of November 2020

Links:

• Rooftop Beneficiaries Interviews

Report 1^st of July:

Nowadays in Lebanon, following the long-term Syrian Crisis, the ongoing melt-down of the Lebanese currency and the recent and still ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, refugees living in the Palestinian camps are every day in greater danger of hunger. Many of those who still had a job before the pandemic lost it. Market prices have followed the rate of exchange of the Lebanese Pound against the Dollar; once fixed at 1500LL for 1$, it can hit 9000LL for a single $ currently! Most families are not able anymore to provide enough food to get the minimal daily nutriments.

When we launched the Organic Rooftop Farming Project, situation was already dire, but we didn’t expect to reach that extend of needs.

The donations received through GlobalGiving allowed us to prepare the base of 3 rooftops where beneficiaries are able to seed, germinate, grow-up and harvest organic vegetables and herbs. The 3 rooftops are also a place to train other beneficiaries who wish to transfer the idea on their own rooftop. Through other projects, Jafra helps them to get seeds, pots and soil as most of them can’t even afford them.

Through other projects too, we could also provide the material to do organic compost on one rooftop. We’ve installed a system to collect rain water. We thus now have prepared 1 rooftop that gathers all the necessary elements and skills for organic vegetable production as well as organic eggs and poultry production, in order to assure protein income to the family beneficiaries.

We still need your financial help to be able transferring the full idea in more than 1 rooftop. We consider self-reliant food production will soon be the only way people of the camps will be able to eat. The economic situation of Lebanon is every day worse, situation in the camps is even harder.

Links:

• Training on organic rooftop farming

Across Lebanon, Palestinian refugees reside in 12 camps and 42 informal gatherings. The camps are congested urban ghettos, cut off from the rest of city dwellers by concrete blocks to buttress security. Inside the camps, poverty rates have risen by 23% in 2015, compared to 8% at the beginning of the Syria crisis. At present, 90% of Palestinian refugees live below Lebanon's poverty line of US$3.8 a day. Resilience capacities need to be strengthened and camp conditions improved for Palestinian refugees.

Jafra Foundation for Relief and Youth Development have launched a GlobalGiving project "Organic rooftops farm in Palestinian refugee camps " in November 2019. Donations will help the constituents be provided with food at no expense, as well as turn the camps from a grey area to a green serene scene.

The situation in the camps has gone from bad to worse, throughout the current situation in Lebanon. Households have a bigger need now more than ever for the organic rooftops. They need it not only for fresh air but also and more importantly to feed themselves as well as their families.

Within the past month, we have almost raised the amount, to begin with, one rooftop, and have started looking for rooftops that we can proceed with. Our beneficiary lives in the camp – they are a household of 6 and there is only one figure at home who is currently employed. They are living on a day-to-day income. With respect to the given situation, things have become even tighter, and means of living are not great either. With this project comes hope.

Since this is a community-based project, the community has been helping with providing water, soil and needs to go green. Jafra Foundation will continue to explore all the needs and services needed. We continue to thank our donors for their generous contributions and reassure individuals their donations are making a significant impact on the lives of those living in the camps, helping them lead the scene and go green.