Organic rooftops farm in Palestinian Refugee Camps

In Lebanon, populations are bracing through the harder winter seen in decades in the region. Beyond the now well-known disastrous economic situation, which makes it difficult to buy the goods to meet the basic needs for more than half of the population, people are currently facing a new challenge; how to stay warm and healthy during this cold winter as Covid-19 spreads more than ever. 

Nevertheless, the participants to the Urban Rooftops Farming project are attached to their rooftop gardens and find a kind of salvation there; it brings them and their family food they can rely on to have a minimum calories and vitamins intake. They also find a psychological relief to be working in their garden, which steers them away from possible negative coping mechanisms.  

Jafra makes continuous improvements to the urban rooftop gardens in the Palestinian camps where the project exists. Jafra’s agronomist teaches new planting techniques, how to water crops in such a way as to save water, how to renew the soil, nourish it, reproduce seeds.  

A great step has been taken thanks to all of you. Today, our fight is to maintain the urban gardens, to continue to spread the word to increase their number and to open the project in other Palestinian camps, because we have studied that the impact on the participating families is definitely positive in all respects.

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