"I am a born farmer, a real farmer. I know no other trade," says 60-year-old Sami Awad Abdelhafez Ali. "Without the ICRC's help to rehabilitate my greenhouse, I would be unemployed."

His greenhouse covers one dunum of land (1000 m2). It’s a metal frame structure covered in plastic sheeting with netting on the sides to keep out insects. Inside he is growing 2,400 tomato plants. The ICRC provided new plastic sheeting and netting to replace the material which is easily damaged by the elements.

"During the closures in 2003 and 2004, I lost all my money, and was not able to replace the roof or the sides of the greenhouse," he explains. "The main market was in Nablus but we could not go there." Prices were depressed on local markets during that period and Sami says his produce was not worth half of his production costs.

Sami lives in the village of Beit Amin, but a military checkpoint, part of the West Bank Barrier, separates the village from the farmers' greenhouses. When his tomatoes are ready for market, he makes daily trips to Nablus to sell his produce as it reaches its prime.

Although he says there are no problems going through the checkpoint, it does not open until 6 in the morning. "This is a huge complication," he says, "the most important buyers are in the Nablus market very early. It takes two hours to travel there and by the time I arrive, those buyers have left."

"There are additional checkpoints along the road, and they can mean further delays," he explains. Without the checkpoints, he says it would only take him an hour to get to Nablus.

Because he is late arriving at the market, Sami says he only gets about 50% of the top current price for his tomatoes. If he does not sell everything, he has to bring it back the following day. "Because it is less fresh, it goes for an even lower price," he says.

75-year-old Harun Yahya Al-Sheikh tells a similar story. He too is a resident of Beit Amin and his greenhouse is located on the other side of the West Bank Barrier and the checkpoint. He has a permit from the Israeli civil authorities to cross, but he says some days it can take as long as an hour and a half.

He grows cucumbers and has been operating his greenhouse since 1999. But he adds, "I have been farming since the day I was born. My ancestors were farmers." The ICRC provided him with the plastic sheeting for the roof of the greenhouse as well as fertilizer and some drainage material. "My greenhouse was not working," he says, "it was destroyed by the climate and I could not afford to fix it. Now it is working because of the ICRC."

However, he explains the checkpoints and restrictions of movement have a negative effect on his livelihood. "If there are closures during the harvesting periods, the delays can cause the cucumbers to be past their prime. I have to sell them for a lower price or sometimes throw them out."