Family revives Gaza Seed Bank after bombing

In Gaza, the Ayesh Muhanna family is rebuilding the Al-Qarara Baladi Seed Bank after it was destroyed during military operations in early 2024.

Salama Ayesh Muhanna, a seventy-one-year-old agronomist, started the bank in 2017 with his daughters, Hanadi and Mona, to preserve local Palestinian seed varieties, known as Baladi seeds, that are adapted to the region’s climate and water scarcity.

Before the war, the bank worked with between 200 and 252 farming families, exchanging seeds in a circular system that allowed for multiplication and preservation of local varieties. After the original building was destroyed near Al-Qarara and Khan Younis, the family relocated to Deir al-Balah and secured an agreement with a landowner to provide seeds, labor, and fertilizer in exchange for water and land. This allowed them to begin cultivating new seeds and slowly rebuild their collection.

The initiative aims to protect agricultural biodiversity threatened by imported seeds, climate change, and the risk of extinction. Currently, the bank reaches 78 families, a reduction from its pre-war reach, due to land loss, displacement, and water shortages. Though agricultural production in Gaza has drastically decreased, now covering only about 10% of internal needs, compared to previous self-sufficiency, the family hopes to maintain the possibility of future farming and preserve Palestinian agricultural heritage.

The Gaza Urban Agriculture Forum and other seed banks in Hebron and Egypt are supporting their work.