Organic rooftops farm in Palestinian Refugee Camps

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