Seeds for a Just Peace Campaign - North (Coburg)

Seeds for a Just Peace

A campaign for urgent and sustained action

We are on a critical mission together. 

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is severe. Mass displacement, pervasive socio-economic challenges, and profound psychological trauma is impacting the Palestinian people intensely and severely, restricting the entry of essential supplies and pushing the population toward famine. This is about survival, of individuals, of a people. 

Gaza’s agricultural sector has been devastated. Many farm lands have become inaccessible and directly impacting urban family farmers and women who rely on these lands for their livelihoods and food security. Only 20% of women-led enterprises remain operational, and many have suffered partial or total damage, losing production capacity.

We need your support.

Our Mission: To raise solidarity funds to support local efforts to consolidate seeds preservation and production for the people of Gaza.

Join us to hear direct stories of food sovereignty, hope and resilience from a number of speakers across Melbourne/Naarm and Gaza, as well as Egypt and other places of forced displacement.

Hosted by Global Gardens of Peace, Sustain: The Australian Food Network, Just Food Collective and Gaza Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP), with support from other organisations.

See campaign page here for more information.

Palestinian food by Melbourne/Naarm based Palestinian chefs will be available.

More details regarding the event speakers will be provided soon.

The Gaza Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP) continues to strengthen community programs, growing and producing food however they can. The Seeds for a Just Peace campaign enhances the ability and capacity of the local community-led food production chain. It tells the story of resilience, commitment and determination to build and maintain local food production initiatives.

Wherein urban family farmers can be strengthened for food production, the Seeds for a Just Peace campaign embeds skills and capacity to enhance these and revive community enterprises. This extends to the local food production network, hence local food sovereignty, and hence self-determination and pathways to peace.

“Farming was my passion, but my land was bombed and reduced to rubble” Nahla, Urban Women Agripreneurs Forum Member

Some Background to Our Local Partner

GUPAP (a participatory platform for urban agroecology in Gaza) established in 2013, is leading the charge alongside the Urban Women Agripreneurs Forum (UWAF) to rebuild Gaza’s food system.

Our friends and colleagues at GUPAP and in UWAF have identified the need to enhance the initiatives for essential support to the network of baladi seed preservation, access and distribution with urban family farmers and small community enterprises developing their capability for sustainable, locally grown food. They have identified Seed Initiatives as the single most important infrastructure at this immediate time of extraordinary challenges, and for the future of food sovereignty. 

Our campaign continues with a resurgence and with renewed commitments, now with the specific objective of consolidating local baladi seeds preservation and production and the establishment of the Seeds Initiatives. 

“We’re relying solely on the local seed varieties we have, and we distribute them without any profit” Salama Muhana from the Qarara seed bank

Urban family farmers tell us they need Seed Initiatives with associated expertise:

• to ensure access to seeds in their home areas or wherever they may be displaced;

• regardless of their situation, to plant seeds in the hope of gaining a harvest of fresh greens and other vegetables, to meet urgent demand;

• to provide vital nutrition for their families and immediate communities in crisis;

• to receive training and materials for maturing, collecting, drying, storing and distributing seeds;

• to encourage new urban family farmers to also grow vegetables and produce seed

  
  

“There was a severe shortage of seeds in the market and the prices were high. After harvesting I saved portions to extract new seeds. [I] continued extracting seeds from the resulting crops to replant and sustain the cycle.” Serena Abu Amra, UWAF Member

Your solidarity donation is going to these Seed Initiatives:

• locally seed stock, available accessibly and sustainably

• production of seed at scale for wide distribution to current and new growers

• local logistics enabling effective and efficient distribution

• importing some essential seed stock from the region to make up short falls  

• access to regional plant species for local staple nutrition, adapted to local soil and water challenges

• promoting plant species for their specific nutritional value

• contingencies to ensure the protection of stored seed
  

“Even if I only have a small quantity, I now consider it my seed bank in case seeds disappear completely from the market. All of this helped me achieve a state of self-sufficiency.” Serena Abu Amra, UWAF Member

Another local event is being hosted on the West, see that event here:
Seeds for a Just Peace campaign event in the West | Borderlands Cooperative Footscray, Victoria, Australia | Thursday 27th November 7-9pm AEDT

This event will not be recorded or available online.

Please note dietary requirements are not being collected for the catering provided.

Please note we may take photographs/video at our events, please let a volunteer at the event know if you prefer not to be included.