Making Room for Strawberries

The plastic used on farmlands in Beit Lahia, Gaza.

The plastic collected from the farms is sent to a nearby recycling facility to turn it into pipes.

Under the warming spring sun, Gazan farmer Khayri Ghaben is busy preparing his fields for planting. But it isn’t easy when plastic sheeting left over from last year’s strawberry season still covers his fields.

"We used the plastic and greenhouses from April to June to protect the strawberry plants,” Ghaben explains. “But if the plastic stays on the land, it prevents us from planting other crops and ruins my fields." Removing the plastic now will make room for other crops like green beans, melon, corn, cucumbers and onion to benefit from sun, water and air and to grow properly.

Ghaben couldn’t afford to hire workers to remove the plastic so he used to burn it, polluting the air. “Thanks to ANERA, we learned about recycling the plastic for other uses.”

ANERA’s pioneering plastic mulch project collects the plastic from the fields and recycles it into irrigation pipes. The project was started two years ago with a triple goal: help farmers prepare for planting, protect the environment, and create jobs.

Today, some 30 workers are busy at work in Ghaben’s green fields in Beit Lahia collecting plastic mulch from the land to prepare the fields for a new growing season. The project will take about four months and employ a new group of workers each month to expand job opportunities for Gazans hit hard by the deteriorating economy.

Moayed Abu Shamalaj joined the workforce on Ghaben’s farm two weeks ago. The father of five children has been unemployed for many years. He used to work in Israel until the border closure made that impossible. "This project is the only work I have to pay for food for my children," he said. "Without ANERA, I’d be lost. I live nearby so I don't have to pay for transportation. I just wish the program could last the whole year!"

In 2009, ANERA’s plastic mulch program served some 240 farms, clearing 140 tons of plastic mulch from 2,000 dunums (nearly 500 acres).

The $35,000 project provides jobs for 100 workers over the course of four months. In addition to the clean-up work, ANERA conducts awareness sessions for farmers and workers alike to educate them about the short- and long-term benefits of the environmentally friendly program.

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Funding for our plastic clean-up work comes from the Firedoll Foundation, U.S. OMEN and individual private donors like you. With your support, ANERA can expand this project to help more farmers and employ more workers in Gaza.

Date modified: April 2011