Gazans lack food security due to Coronavirus pandemic

Ashraf Shannon

Press TV, Gaza

The Coronavirus pandemic poses a serious threat to food security and nutrition in the Gaza Strip.

Economic turmoil caused by Israeli blockade and the pandemic threatens both economic and physical access to food. Around eighty percent of Gazans receive aid from international agencies to feed their families and food security remains a major challenge for international aid agencies.

With very limited resources and high poverty and unemployment rates, it is now harder for Gazans to secure food during the Coronavirus pandemic. The Coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on all economic sectors in the tiny enclave. Many businesses in the Gaza Strip had to cut their workforce in order to survive the current crisis.

Thousands of people have lost their source of income while many more are working fewer hours. Dwindling incomes are making food, particularly nutritious food less affordable, especially for the poor. With no end in sight for the Coronavirus pandemic, experts say that only the complete lifting of the Israeli blockade can help improve the situation.

Food insecurity is one of the many problems that Palestinians in Gaza are facing because of the Israeli blockade. The coronavirus outbreak has worsened the condition in the impoverished enclave.

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