Food Security & Livelihoods AR

Food Security and Livelihoods (FSL)

Food Security

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has brought the population to the brink of starvation. The World Food Programme estimates that 1.1 million people are facing catastrophic levels of hunger. Mass destruction of infrastructure, the blocking of vital humanitarian aid, displacement of communities, and disruption of agricultural activities have severely impacted food production and stability.

Our Food Security projects provide emergency food assistance to reduce hunger and malnutrition, ensuring that vulnerable populations have access to at least some food. This is essential for maintaining health and resilience, especially among children, pregnant women, and the elderly, who are particularly at risk of the detrimental effects of food insecurity. These projects are critically important at this time because they address the immediate food security needs of the population whose means of subsistence have been disrupted by conflict.

Youth Vision Society (YVS) work on Food Security

The primary focus during an emergency is to save lives. Given the catastrophic levels of hunger, this means that the majority of our projects have been focused on providing people with food.

In nearly all areas of Gaza, food has become extremely limited. Even on the few occasions that food gets through the borders and reaches those in need, most are not able to buy it, because they have lost their income and the prices are so high.

Food Parcels

When food is available, YVS uses an existing network of vendors and bulk purchasing power to buy food at a slightly lower rate. Food parcels are prepared by our team and then handed out to those most in need.

Mobile Community Kitchens

YVS has set up a mobile community kitchen to deliver nutritious cooked food to people. The kitchen is funded solely by private donations, which means we only open it when we can – often once per week. We open it in a different neighbourhood each time to try to ensure our small resources are shared fairly.

‘It is the little things,’ said Fatima, 85, who attended the YVS Community Kitchen in Gaza City, ‘whoever cooked the rice today is an artist. Rice is my favourite food but we rarely see it in the markets now and the few community kitchens that make rice at all, ever make it this good. It reminds me of home.’

Fatima, like the majority of people in Gaza City, now get the majority of their meals from community kitchens. The YVS Community Kitchen in Gaza City offers one nutritious meal per day, two times per week.

Amina’s* story

‘Since the beginning of the war, we had not seen any vegetables or meat, not red or white meat, not a piece of chicken or beef. I had not had a cucumber or a tomato for six months, my children had not even had a piece of fruit. Neither myself nor my husband has been able to work since October, so we have not received any salary. What little savings we had was spent on overpriced flour – which was not normal white flour but often ground up animal feed – to try and feed our three little girls.

‘In April, things started to look like they were going to get better, we could see more food trucks arriving at the markets. Fresh fruit and vegetables were arriving, with what little was left of our savings we scraped together what little we had to buy small amounts of food, but it was not enough to end the months of hunger we had endured.

‘When YVS turned up at the home we now share with 45 relatives with bags of fresh food, we were overjoyed. Can you imagine being overjoyed to see a cucumber? It was it was like a dream come true. For the first time in months, I was able to put my girls to bed with almost full stomachs, even though it was just for a few days, that feeling will never leave me.’

*Name has been changed to allow for anonymity