Practical gardening workshop supports families in Domiz 1 camp
Our team ran a second women’s workshop at the Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, building on the success of last month’s session at the Hêvî Community Garden in Gawilan camp. Led by Hamid and Aveen, this workshop brought women together to strengthen food security through sustainable gardening practices, while creating opportunities for connection and mutual support.
Domiz 1 is the largest refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, home to around 32,000 people within just 1.2 km². Since 2016, the Azadî Community Garden has been a vital green space in the heart of the camp and supports 100 gardeners to grow food and flowers for their families and neighbours. More than a place to cultivate crops, the garden has become a space of community, belonging and empowerment.
During the workshop, participants explored organic agriculture techniques, strategies to protect crops from drought and extreme heat, and approaches to managing pests. Just as importantly, the workshop provided a space for women to exchange practical solutions, share knowledge, and support each other in protecting their crops.
Like their peers in Hêvî, the Azadî gardeners are cultivating more than food. Through the community gardens, they are improving both mental and physical health, supporting one another and leading the way in transforming refugee camps into greener, healthier and more liveable places.
Workshops like these also contribute directly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including Zero Hunger, Good Health and Wellbeing, Gender Equality, Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Life on Land.
Support our work
Through our community gardens, we aim to create spaces of empowerment, belonging and dignity, while improving both physical and mental health. With your help, we can expand our workshops, train more families, distribute seeds and trees, and grow gardens that bring nourishment and healing.
Thank you for your support.
Aveen Ibrahem is Operations Manager at Lemon Tree Trust, overseeing our community gardening and cooking programmes across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Her work supports activities in Azadî Community Garden in Domiz 1 camp, as well as outreach and coordination across the nine camps where Lemon Tree Trust currently operates. Having lived in Domiz 1 … Continued
Inside the polytunnels at the Hêvî Community Garden in Gawilan refugee camp, Garden Manager Othman Qewas carefully selects fruit trees and flowering plants grown from seed. Joined by Hamid Abdullah, Lemon Tree Trust’s Horticulture and Landscape Consultant, the plants are loaded into the car before setting off to visit families across the camp. As part of our ongoing children’s outreach programme in Gawilan camp, … Continued
Bringing together residents to celebrate the home gardens they have grown, tended and transformed over the past year, Lemon Tree Trust’s 2026 Annual Garden Competitions have taken place across nine refugee and IDP (internally displaced people) camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This year’s competitions introduced a greater emphasis on welcoming new participants alongside … Continued