Agriculture

As engineer Hasan Zayed was wandering between farms stretching the northern Gaza Strip, the accumulated amounts of agricultural waste immobilized him and led him to wonder “why are these remnants wasted in trash? And could these huge quantities be benefited in producing energy? And how?” He finally found the answers to these questions in his project “Biochar Production”.

Without a plow or an axe, farmer Eyad al-Attar tours his crops in his lush green limited land, as he uses hydroponics as a new agricultural way which excludes soil.

Author: Svenja Oberender Traditional agriculture, with its strong connection to the land and understanding of its character, is an often cited part of Palestinian national identity. Unfortunately, the grave reality is that the profession is slowly but surely disappearing. In this interview, agronomist and environmentalist Saad Dagher explains the reasons for the decline that can be found not only in the political situation but also in social and economic developments. In addition, he talks about how abandoning peasant farming has in turn changed Palestinian society.

Healthy soils are crucial to human nutrition and the fight against hunger. But worldwide 24 billion tons of fertile soil is lost annually. Barbara Unmüßig calls attention to the growing threat to one of Earth’s most important resources.    

The rules of the global economy also remain untouchable, making it nearly impossible to restructure financial and trade policies to ensure that they do not result in more poverty, unchecked climate change, and irreversible resource destruction. The language agreed upon so far is not reassuring. A timeworn commitment to economic growth at all cost is no answer to the question of how development can be balanced against the limits of our planet and the fact that billions of people live in poverty. In a finite world, infinite growth is impossible, and rising output will not put food on everyone’s table if the benefits of growth are not fairly distributed.

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The soil seems to be inexhaustible. It is just there, beneath our feet. Under the fields, grass and trees. We live on and from the soil, but we pay it scant attention. A few wine lovers say that each soil has its own bouquet, but how many of us can actually taste it? When we sit down to dine, who thinks of the soil where most of our food grows?