West Bank: DIEM – Data in Emergencies brief on the food security and livelihoods of agricultural households - October 2025

Key highlights

• Agricultural households have faced multiple shocks. The most reported shocks were violence and/or conflict (41 percent), loss of employment (38 percent) and rising food prices (36 percent). These shocks have compounded economic hardship across the affected areas.
• Overall, three-fourths of the agricultural households reported significant income losses compared to the same period the year before the survey.
• Since October 2023, over 90 percent of agricultural households previously dependent on income from Israel and Israeli settlements have lost that source, with only 43 percent able to secure alternative livelihoods. As a result, most households now report earnings significantly less than before.
• In the face of these pressures, agricultural households have increasingly resorted to negative and often unsustainable coping strategies. Borrowing money and purchasing food on credit have become widespread, reflecting rising financial strain. Many families have been forced to cut back on essential expenditures, including healthcare and education, particularly in Area C where this trend is more severe. Overall, households in Area C show a markedly higher reliance on negative coping strategies compared to those in Areas A and B, pointing to a deeper erosion of coping capacity.
• Crop producers face numerous constraints in production, with the most critical being the lack of irrigation or rainfall water reported by 69 percent. This is followed by restricted access to agricultural plots (31 percent) and the spread of plant diseases (26 percent).
• For livestock holders, the primary reported challenge remains the high cost and limited availability of animal feed. This is compounded by widespread livestock diseases and restricted access to pasture. Secondary issues include limited veterinary services and access to water. Insecurity has significantly disrupted the sector with its most direct impacts being the inability to reach grazing areas, increased livestock mortality and rising input costs.
• Households reported a clear set of priorities to support agrifood system recovery. Animal feed was identified as the most urgent need, followed by essential agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizer and tools. Infrastructure for crop and vegetable production – mainly irrigation and canal rehabilitation – is also considered critical. Veterinary services and water, or shelter infrastructure for livestock are essential for herd health. Additionally, cash support is seen as a vii key enabler to meet diverse household needs and safeguard agricultural livelihoods in the West Bank.
• According to the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), 34 percent of the overall sample is experiencing moderate or severe food insecurity, with the highest prevalence observed in Bethlehem, Hebron and Tubas. As household incomes decline, agricultural production is disrupted, and reliance on negative coping strategies intensifies. These factors have resulted in a sharp rise in the risk of food insecurity.
• Household resilience to shocks varied across the governorates in the West Bank in which Bethlehem, Tubas and Hebron had the lowest resilience capacity index (RCI) compared with the households in Ramallah, Salfit and Qalqiliya. The main drivers of resilience – explaining over 70 percent of the RCI variation – were household assets and access to basic services, suggesting that agricultural household resilience in the West Bank depends far more on their own resources and service access than on external support.
• There are around 20 300 agricultural households in need of emergency agricultural assistance (AgHiN) due to their elevated food insecurity levels, exposure to shocks and need for assistance. Seventy percent of these households are located in three governorates: Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin.
• A particularly large proportion of AgHiN have been found among livestock holders. Small-scale producers of both crop and livestock were more likely to be AgHiN.
• AgHiN primarily prioritized the need for agricultural in-kind assistance and cash. This stems from widespread production disruptions such as reduced planted areas, lower harvest yields and livestock declines, while the emphasis on cash reflects a need for flexible resources to manage diverse livelihood shocks and recover lost purchasing power.

Agricultural support is urgently needed from November to December 2025 to enable timely winter planting of wheat, barley and potatoes through the provision of seeds, fertilizer, irrigation and land preparation. Continued assistance from January to April 2026 is vital to sustain crop growth through irrigation, pest management and technical guidance. Additionally, perennial crops – such as grapes, dates and olives – require targeted seasonal support for harvesting and marketing to optimize yields and reduce post-harvest losses.