Domiz refugee camp is nestled between the cities of Mosul and Duhuk in the Kurdish Region of northern Iraq. The camp was opened in 2012 to house around 2,000 refugees, and five years later, it is home to more than 40,000 forcibly displaced people, primarily Syrians fleeing the war. Over the years, the flimsy tents have been exchanged for more robust breezeblock huts, and the camp has been peppered with fruit trees and plots of land growing herbs, vegetables, and spices.

The Lemon Tree Trust is a United Kingdom-based nonprofit organization which facilitates greening innovation and urban agriculture in refugee camps in Iraq, Uganda, and Jordan. “People are arriving with almost nothing and are literally making home, so the garden becomes representative of a space that people have control over, some ability to be creative, and a space to just be in after they’ve undergone this process of forced migration,” says co-founder Mikey Tomkins. “It’s a question not only of personal dignity but also of social, communal dignity.”

Primarily, the Trust sees itself as a capacity-building organization, providing funding and supporting agricultural activities and businesses already under way in the camp. All staff members in Iraq are refugees from the camp, as the organization emphasizes the importance of local partnership and participation. This provides employment and income for refugee communities and tries to move away from the donor dependency trap many other food security projects fall into. By encouraging refugees to create their own gardens and food growing spaces, they become actively involved in their own livelihoods and are able to be creative and productive. It is also a sustainable approach, continuing and growing even when the U.K. Trust staff are no longer there.

Read the full article about greening Iraq's refugee camps by Helene Schulze at Food Tank.