The Ministry of Agriculture estimated Gaza’s agricultural losses during the four-day storm, which occurred Dec. 12-14, to be about $7.7 million in direct preliminary losses, of which more than $5.5 million were in the vegetables sector, with the rest in livestock.

Strawberry production in particular is expected to be hit hard by the winter storms.

Gaza farmers started cultivating strawberries in 1968 on limited areas and began exporting to foreign markets in the late 1970s. The area under cultivation grew over the years until it reached its peak in 2005, when 2,500 dunums (618 acres) were cultivated. The area shrank when restrictions were imposed on exporting the crop after Hamas won in the 2006 parliamentary elections.

Ahmad al-Shafei, the head of the Gaza Agricultural Cooperative, said that about 500 tons of strawberries were expected to be exported to the European market, but the crop was affected by the storm and the estimate is now 200 tons for the entire export period, which will last for about three months.

The total storm damage to the strawberry crop in the Gaza Strip exceeded 20%, according to the strawberry exporters association, but the damage to profits may amount to more than 40% given that the storm came during the export period, when most profits are made.

Source -al-monitor.com