NEXEM KARACA

Gaza- 27-year-old Palestinian Alaa Al-Masri is a young entrepreneur. Although she studied journalism, Arab language and media and has a master’s degree in business administration, she grows organic oyster mushrooms in Gaza. “I attended the courses organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Economy for a year and I loved the idea of organic farming. I attended an agriculture fair in Gaza, which was funded by the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC). I saw a girl selling mushrooms and I bought a box of mushrooms from her. I cooked them at home and loved its taste. So I decided to grow oyster mushrooms. In October, 2019, I searched on the internet how I can grow oyster mushrooms. And then, I began to grow mushrooms in my garden,” she told us.

Stating that she was determined to grow oyster mushrooms, Alaa Al-Masri said, “I went to the Ministry of Agriculture and the person responsible for growing the mushrooms gave me mushroom seeds when he saw how I was interested in growing oyster mushrooms. The manager told me, ‘Why don’t you develop a project for growing oyster mushrooms? There is a great demand.’ The manager taught me how to plant a mushroom seed and how to stabilize it. When I returned home, I began to plant mushrooms in my garden. After a newspaper published an article about my story, I received many orders.”

“I faced difficulties at the beginning”

Speaking about the difficulties she faced, Alaa Al-Masri said, “I faced difficulties in promoting the products, and selling them. I had difficulties in finding raw materials and they were very expensive because people didn’t prefer organic-local products. I also had difficulties in finding funding. I applied to government institutes and agricultural organizations but I received no answer from them. For this reason, I spent my own money to grow and sell organic oyster mushrooms. Although I needed advanced tools and equipment, I had to use old tools due to lack of funding.”

“I grow 150 kilograms every month”

Noting that growing mushrooms has several processes, Alaa El-Mesri said: “Some mushrooms grow on tree bark. I bring their seeds from Arab countries. I try to grow them in incubators. Temperature and humidity are important for mushrooms; I always have to check them. After growing the mushrooms, I put them in suitable boxes to sell them to malls and markets. I grow 150 kilograms of mushrooms every month.”

She wants to have modern equipment and tools

Alaa El-Mesri has a laboratory and searches for alternative materials to grow mushrooms in Gaza. “I tried to produce the seeds of Shiitake and agaric mushrooms and I managed to produce them in my laboratory. I want to have modern equipment and tools for my laboratory in order to increase the production capacity to sell mushrooms in all cities of Palestine.”