the role of water and land management policies in contemporary socio-economic development in wadi...

Comp. by: Kkavitha Stage: Proof Chapter No.: 27 Title Name: Mithen&BlackPage Number: 0 Date:11/10/10 Time:18:53:44

27 The role of water and land management policiesin contemporary socio-economic developmentin Wadi Faynan

Khadija Darmame, Stephen Nortcliff and Robert B. Potter

ABSTRACT

The role of water and land management practices in

promoting current development in the Wadi Faynan

area, located in southern Jordan, forms the focus of this

chapter. The area represents one of the most arid

landscapes in Jordan and until recently, was primarily

used by semi-nomadic Bedouin tribes for winter

grazing. Since 1921, the Government of Jordan has

encouraged settlement and this transition has led to

considerable changes in the day-to-day lives of the

Bedouin, including the recent development of irrigated

agriculture making use of shallow groundwater

sources. The account considers the physical and social

contexts of Wadi Faynan before turning to the

cooperative model being used in the area to promote

this irrigated agricultural activity. The characteristics of

the irrigated agricultural system being used to produce

tomatoes and watermelons are then outlined and

reviewed, including recourse to specific farmer-based

case studies. In conclusion, the impacts of the

cooperative-led irrigated agricultural activity on

reducing poverty in the areas are assessed, along with

the need for wider imperatives at the sub-regional scale

of southern Jordan, as a part of decentralisation from

the national core centred on Greater Amman.

27 .1 REDUCING POVERTY THROUGH

PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT IN

ARID AREAS

Located in southern Jordan, the Faynan area is one of the most

arid landscapes in Jordan. Until recently, the area was used by

the semi-nomadic Bedouin tribes Al-Rashaida and Al-Azazma

for winter grazing. With the establishment of the Emirate of

Transjordan in 1921 the Government encouraged settlement,

which was also stimulated by the limited availability of grazing

as a result of droughts (Al-Simadi, 1995; Bocco and Tell, 1995).

The passing from nomadic to sedentary activity produced con-

siderable changes in the lifestyle of the Bedouin. While many

have joined the army for their livelihoods, others have turned to

irrigated agriculture, making use of shallow groundwater (Lewis,

1987; Bocco, 2000). The transition from a nomadic to sedentary

lifestyle was encouraged by the Government, but in fact, little

investment in socio-economic projects and infrastructure has

been made to support this transition (Bocco, 2000; World Bank,

2004). A report published in 2004 by the World Bank (WB) on

poverty in Jordan recorded that the areas of deprivation and

severe poverty were mostly associated with Bedouin villages,

particularly in eastern and southern Jordan. This is well illus-

trated in the case of the Wadi Faynan area. Since the 1990s, a

village has been established for the Mal’ab, a branch of the Al-

Rashaida using the local Wadi Ghuwayr system for water. In

order to develop their livelihoods and improve their quality of

life, the tribe members set up cooperatives in agriculture and

tourism. These local initiatives are part of national as well as

regional measures to aid development and to reduce poverty.

In the terms of Carney (1999), livelihoods comprise the cap-

abilities, assets (including both material and social resources)

and activities required to provide a means of living. In the case

of Jordan, 18.7% of the approximately 1 million rural people

were considered to be living below the income poverty line of

392 Jordanian Dinar (JD) per annum in 2002 (The Household

Expenditure and Income Survey, 2002–03. In November 2009,

one Jordanian Dinar was equal to 0.83 Pounds Sterling). Many

factors affect the livelihoods of Jordan’s rural poor: limited

access to water and land, the lack of alternative sources of

income, few opportunities to diversify their agricultural produc-

tion and the generally poor quality of the soils. Additionally, they

Water, Life and Civilisation: Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley, ed. Steven Mithen and Emily Black. Published by Cambridge University Press.

# Steven Mithen and Emily Black 2011.

442


do not own the land, and as tenant farmers they rarely make long-

term investments or request loans for development (Ministry of

Agriculture (MoA), 2009).

Nevertheless, there is evidence that some of the factors

mentioned above – particularly when water is scarce and the

infrastructure is lacking – are not always an obstacle to the

reduction of poverty. In this regard, good examples are found

in Southern Africa, where Maluleke et al. (2005) developed a

model called Securing Water to Enhance Local Livelihoods

(SWELL). Their approach is based on principles of participatory

management and community-based planning in poor commu-

nities that aim to improve the water resource allocation, the land

use, and therefore the social and economic conditions. In the

same respect, van Koppen et al. (2006) developed and used a

Multiple Use Water Services Approach in South Africa, which is

defined as ‘[a] participatory, integrated and poverty-reduction

focused approach in poor rural and peri-urban areas, which takes

people’s multiple water needs as a starting point for providing

integrated services’. This approach, framed by three key insti-

tutional levels (community, intermediate, national), was adopted

by Smits et al. (2006) for the case of Zimbabwe. These authors

suggest that this approach to scarce water resources management

for a range of productive uses has the potential to make signifi-

cant contributions to the improvement of household food security

and nutrition, and potentially to generate more income. In this

way and following the settlement of the Al-Rashaida tribe, there

has been socio-economic development based on community

water management, aimed at enhancing irrigated agriculture

(namely tomatoes and watermelons) and ecotourism as part of

the strategy to reduce poverty. What assets do the population of

Faynan have at their disposal? How does the adopted strategy of

managing water and land in Faynan relate to the approaches

mentioned above? To what extent are the present strategies of

water and land management in (Wadi) Faynan likely to achieve

outcomes achieved elsewhere, for example in southern Africa?

This chapter will consider the experience of the Al-Rashida

tribe in Wadi Faynan during the past decade in terms of adaptive

strategies to deal with environmental, socio-economic and polit-

ical changes, as well as their development of crop production

practices to improve their livelihoods. The impact of ongoing

programmes of development led by different institutions

involved in the area is also emphasised in the chapter. The

analysis and discussion is primarily based on qualitative and

quantitative information collected in the field between March

and May 2008 and in March 2009, using participatory and in-

depth interviews with the members of the village. In addition a

number of interviews were conducted during 2008–09 with rep-

resentatives from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), the Aqaba

Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and the Jordanian

Cooperative Corporation (JCC), the official body which author-

ises and monitors the cooperative associations in rural areas.

In addition, we investigated the available data about the area

provided by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooper-

ation (MoPIC), the Department of Statistics (DOS) and the Minis-

try of Social Development (MoSD) (Department of Statistics,

2007–09). However, most of the information provided from these

sources related more generally to the main villages of the Aqaba

Governorate, and it proved difficult to obtain specific information

on the current socio-economic development in the Wadi Faynan

area from the national and regional level institutions.

27 .2 PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL CONTEXT

OF WADI FAYNAN

27.2.1 Physical and environmental constraint

The dominant climatic influence on Wadi Faynan is the hot dry

climate of the Saharo-Arabian desert belt, although locally there is

altitudinal variation (Palmer et al., 2007). Wadi Faynan has an

average minimum January temperature of 12 �C and in the summer

the temperature frequently exceeds 40 �C. Most of the rain falls in

the winter between December and March on westerly winds, with

no rain falling between June and September (see Figure 27.1).

Rainfall amounts are extremely variable, but annual totals

are in the region of 60 mm, although annual totals in excess of

150mm have been recorded. Locally the water supply in theWadi

Ghuwayr is maintained throughout the year by a series of peren-

nial springs. The area currently developed for intensive agricul-

tural production lies principally on Pleistocene-age alluvial fans

and Holocene-age alluvium and colluviums. The soils are skeletal

and sandy loam in texture, showing very few signs of the devel-

opment of distinctive profile features and organic matter accumu-

lation. Recent analysis, carried out by the authors, of total

nitrogen and available phosphorus in these soils showed exceed-

ingly low levels, indicating that any form of crop production

would be impossible without an intensive fertiliser management

programme particularly for nitrogen and phosphorus. Levels for

available potassiumwere low to moderate, but if crops with a high

potassium demand, such as tomatoes, were to be grown there

would also be a potassium fertiliser requirement. According to

Crook (2009), a contemporary measure of water quality shows

that the pH and alkalinity of these waters is very high as a result of

their source in the high limestone plateau. If this water were to be

used for irrigation, there would be a need for careful management

to prevent problems of structural damage to the soil and to

reduced infiltration capacities in the fields.

27.2.2 From nomadism to sedentary life

Customarily, the Al-Rashaida tribe moved to the highlands around

Shawbak for summer grazing and toWadi Faynan in the winter (see

Figure 27.2). Whilst this pastoral activity provided an economic

WATER AND LAND MANAGEMENT IN WADI FAYNAN 443


base for their livelihood, it should be recognised that it also repre-

sents a key element of what it means to be a Bedouin. During

the 1990s, the move towards the development of a settlement began

in Wadi Faynan. The Al-Rashaida tribe have settled in a village

called Faynan Al-Jadida (New Faynan). Although there were 514

inhabitants in 2007, a few families continue to move to the uplands

in the summer months (Wadi Araba Development Project, 2007).

In 2004, each family was allowed to use an area of 1 dunum

(equivalent to 1,000 m2) as part of the programme to encourage

settlement and reduce poverty in this area. In addition, the

Government provided small basic dwellings as a royal donation,

but it should be recognised they were not in line with the living

habits and tradition of Bedouins. For the Bedouin the tent pro-

vides both a living space and a space for hospitality while the

small dwellings that were provided only cover the needs in terms

of living space. A consequence is that whilst some families have

used part of the land granted by the Government for ornamental

plants and an occasional olive tree, many have pitched tents on

the land to provide the traditional hospitality space as illustrated

in Figures 27.3 and 27.4.

The second tribe, the Al-Azazma, has a population in the order

of 200 inhabitants. The Al-Azazma were originally from Bir

Saba’a in southern Palestine, but had historically moved between

Palestine and Jordan. They moved to the Wadi Faynan area in

1948 following the creation of the State of Israel. They live close

to many of the archaeological sites that are to be found locally.

About 70 families live in tents and their water supply is fromWadi

Ghuwayr or local springs, as shown in Figures 27.5 and 27.6. This

tribe consists of nomadic goat herders who generate a limited

income from this activity, but who also rely upon support from

the Ministry of Social Development in Amman. The tribe is

economically very poor and, in part because of their Palestinian

origins, they have no rights to use land and water resources in the

Figure 27.2. The regional and national context of the Faynan and

Qurayqira villages.

Figure 27.3. The typical small dwelling provided by the Government

in Faynan village.

Figure 27.1. Rainfall distribution and water resources in Jordan

and location of the study area.

444 KHADIJA DARMAME, STEPHEN NORTCLIFF AND ROBERT B. POTTER


area, although they are recognised as Jordanian nationals. They

appear to be excluded from all socio-economic projects in Faynan.

27.2.3 Insufficiency of the socio-economic services

in Faynan area

The Qurayqira–Faynan municipality (Figures 27.2 and 27.7),

created in July 1999, was identified in 2004 as the second most

pressing pocket of poverty in Jordan: about 53% of the popula-

tion were living at or below the poverty line and the overall rate

of illiteracy was 35% (Municipality of Qurayqira-Faynan, 2007).

The average size of family is 5.47 persons and the percentage of

families with 6 and more is 42.6%. Between 80% and 90% do

not have items such as refrigerators, televisions, an oven or

washing machine (Ministry of Planning and Cooperation

(MoPIC), 2004–06). The level of socio-economic services is,

however, relatively acceptable. Since 2004, electricity and water

have been provided. The electricity is ensured by the Aqaba

Company. The water supply is from an artesian well with a

capacity of 76,153 m3 per year (Ministry of Agriculture (MoA),

Figure 27.4. The tent: place of traditional hospitality and shrubs on the

1 dunum plot.

Village

Qurayqira

N

Faynan

Wadi Ghuwayr

Wadi Dana

Habitat Bedouin tent

Mine

Farmland

2 km

FaynanEcolodge

SmeltingArchaeological site

School

Figure 27.7. Land use in Faynan and Qurayqira villages.

Figure 27.5. The everyday challenges of water access for the Al-

Azazma tribe.

Figure 27.6. A young girl bringing back water from Wadi Ghuwayr for

cooking.



2009 ) and the distribution, maintenance and billing are assured

by the Aqaba Water Company. The water is stored on the roof of

each house in tanks of 2 m3. The interviewees described the

water as quite salty and the storage capacity as insufficient for

the size of their families.

Meanwhile, the Al-Azazma tribe, in old Faynan, does not have

water or electricity. People have to walk long distances to bring

water from the Wadi, which requires time and energy, and the

quality of water is not always good. Alternatively, they have to

get supplies from a spring managed by the Ecolodge run by the

Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), located

near to the archaeological sites (see Figure 27.7).

Public transportation is for the most part absent. In winter, the

area is completely inaccessible during the flood period. A basic

road connects the whole area to the principal Aqaba-Amman

road and a bus provides public transport from Qurayqira toward

Aqaba at 6.00 am daily. There is only one school and the lack of

staff was mentioned as an issue by the population during inter-

views. The level of education is low and rarely exceeds the

secondary level (Municipality of Qurayqira-Faynan, 2007).

There is a health centre, located in Qurayqira, which provides

basic facilities for both villages and the Al-Azazma. In short, the

status of services provided is basic in the area and Faynan village is

very dependent on Qurayqira village and Aqaba. The current situ-

ation shows that an improvement has been made by the Govern-

ment in comparison with the situation a few years ago when

families were living under traditional tents, but more effort is

required to provide the area with infrastructure of sufficient quality.

27 .3 THE COOPERATIVE MANAGEMENT

MODEL IN SOUTHERN JORDAN: THE CASE

OF THE FAYNAN AREA

A cooperative is defined as an autonomous association of per-

sons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social

and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and

democratically controlled venture (International Co-operative

Alliance, 2004). For the Bedouin in eastern and southern Jordan,

the agro-cooperative is a participatory process model, based

exclusively on irrigation from groundwater. It is essentially a

coping strategy adopted to respond to the prevailing socio-eco-

nomic conditions and to ensure the accumulation and manage-

ment of financial assets. Culturally, many Bedouin have

considered that agriculture is degrading work and that, as they

are of a higher social status, they should not be involved in such

activities (Bin Mohammad, 1999; Van Aken, 2004). Some of the

Bedouin tribes in Jordan, however, have a history of engagement

in agriculture, as in Salt and in the immediate vicinity of

Amman, and there is no evidence that as a consequence of this

involvement they have lost their identity (Shryock, 1997). The

first agro-cooperative in the rural desert areas began in the 1970s.

In 1976 with the royal support of Sharif Nasir, authorisation was

given for well drilling to provide irrigation water for agriculture

to the Al-Ammarin and Saidiyin tribes in Qurayqira village. In

the early 1990s, a similar scheme was implemented in Wadi

Faynan but with surface water transferred by pipe from Wadi

Ghuwayr. But before studying the cooperative and its activity, it

is relevant to highlight the complexity of the property status of

the land used by the Al-Rashaida for agriculture, which deprives

them of the right to be owners of the land and to have access to

groundwater in the area.

27.3.1 The issue of the legal status of land

and its use by tribes

Tribal land is defined as the communal land that the tribes have

been using for herding, as their primary source of livelihood, and

in growing barley for agriculture. The tribal land is described by

some authors as a social field (Razzaz, 1994) or a social landscape

(Lancaster and Lancaster, 1999) in which the ownership, the rules

to get access to the land, and its boundaries were established

according to principles of Islamic law, local customs and Ottoman

law (Metral, 1996). Since the Emirate of Transjordan was estab-

lished in 1921 under the British Mandate, a widespread policy of

control and centralisation of land was implemented by the Gov-

ernment through the Land Registry Law. However, when the

Government declared sedentarisation as its official policy, the

settled tribes had the right of ownership of their pastoral land

and all undeveloped land became state property (Lancaster and

Lancaster, 1999). The state has also offered the pastoral tribes

open-access to grazing and the expansion of barley cultivation

(Al-Jaloudy, 2001), but this access does not give them the right to

actually own the land or the right to drill wells.

The procedure is that, in general, using the state land for public

interest should be requested by a group of people within the

framework of a cooperative. The JCC cannot authorize the regis-

tration of a cooperative without the provision of an official

document by governors delegating the land to the tribe. This

has provoked disagreements between tribes about the legitimacy

of land use especially in the Aqaba governorate, where most land

is owned by the Jordan Valley Authority (JVA), ASEZA or the

State Treasury (khazinat al-dawla) (Jordanian Cooperative Cor-

poration, 2009). The south bank of Faynan and Wadi Ghuwayr is

an example of this kind of conflict between the tribes. The

Rashaida have a history of disagreement with the Shawabaka

tribe (residents of Shawbak) concerning the ownership of tribal

land in Faynan and access to water from Wadi Ghuwayr. Lan-

caster and Lancaster (1999) described one such incident:

Al-Rashaida affirmed that they made an agreement with

the Shawabaka that they would farm half themselves,



while the Shawabaka had the right to sharecrop with the

Rashaida on the other half of the land. In 1992–3, the

Rashaida were cultivating two areas, using gravity fed water

piped from the Wadi Hammam (the downstream section of

Wadi Guwayr [referred to as Wadi Ghuwayr elsewhere in

this chapter]). In the autumn of 1993, the pipes were

extended west to a new area where water catchment basins

were built and the land ploughed and planted. This aroused

the Shawabaka who had done nothing about their option.

They took their complaint to Government offices at Aqaba,

who contacted the army to send a bulldozer from the Jordan

Valley Authority to clear the just ripening tomato crops. The

Rashaida were furious at the prospect of their investment in

pipe and the associated efforts being lost. They stopped the

bulldozer from ripping up the crops and pipes by standing in

front of it, trying to set the bulldozer on fire, and puncturing

its tyres, while the sheikh of the Rashaida arrived from

Karak by pickup with supporters, all bearing rifles.

Lancaster and Lancaster (1999, p. 122)

In 1994, the dispute was settled temporarily thanks to then

Crown Prince Hassan, and the Rashaida position was upheld.

In all our meetings between 2008 and 2009, the Al-Rashaida

members have evoked their tribal history in the Wadi since the

1930s. They claim to have a hujja – a traditional document based on

Islamic principles and Ottoman law – asserting their presence for

decades in Faynan, herding and practising agriculture intermit-

tently. However, if they considered the hujja as proof to legitimise

the exploitation of land, they failed to register it or to get any

official recognition of land ownership. In Jordan, the hujja is not

recognized by courts of law; it is not considered an official docu-

ment and is not recorded in Land Registry details, since the tribal

members do not own the state land, as confirmed byRazzaz (1994).

The Al-Rashaida tribe believe that they have been in de facto

possession of the disputed land through a long process of settle-

ment in the area (farming the land and participating actively in the

management of the municipality), whilst the Shawabaka refer to

the tribal land law and their pastoral life, which gives them rights

to a tribal bank in Faynan. The request of the Shawabaka to create

their own cooperative has been rejected as the problem of the land

partition is not yet resolved. In the context of the tribal structure,

the disagreement becomes not only an issue of interest and of

securing a livelihood, but also a matter of pride and honour that

they must defend (Lancaster and Lancaster, 1999). After more

than 14 years, the process of adjustment between the state and the

two tribes is still ongoing and the issues have yet to be resolved.

27.3.2 The performance of Sail Faynan cooperative

The Al-Rashaida members have implemented a series of

cooperatives according to the laws established by the JCC, which

also provides technical and administrative assistance. The initial

cooperative, known as the Faynan Association, established in

1997, appears to have had only limited activity. In 2002 the Sail

Faynan cooperative was established for agriculture and the

Hamza Association for tourism in 2004.

The initial idea for undertaking irrigated agricultural activity

arose from the Al-Rashaida Tribal Deputy in the mid-1990s,

who suggested the transfer of water in pipes from nearby Wadi

Ghuwayr as they are not allowed by JVA to drill wells. In order

to improve the collection of water and to use it efficiently, the

member of the cooperative surveyed the Wadi and introduced a

series of small rudimentary stone dams (Figure 27.8) built to

channel water to pipes, an effective transfer of water which also

affords some protection from pollution due to the presence of

heavy metals in the soil. This approach to manage the flows is

basic, and the dams are regularly destroyed by the seasonal

flood events. The Bedouin in Faynan consider a bad year to

be when there are fewer than five floods, as this constrains the

growth of wild plants for goats to eat and severely reduces

available water for the irrigated land (Lancaster and Lancaster,

1999). To facilitate the transfer of water along the pipeline, the

initial diameter of the pipe at the Wadi dam is 4 inches (10 cm),

reducing to 3 inches (7.5 cm) approximately mid-distance

between the wadi and a small basin close to the cultivated

areas where water is stored prior to its use for irrigation (see

Figure 27.9).

The first land used for agriculture was land locally identified

as a Roman archaeological site, but the soil is considered to be

contaminated by metals from smelting. The first pipe established

was used to irrigate between 80 and 100 dunums. Following the

intervention of the Department of Antiquities, the cultivation site

was moved to land closer to the village, incurring additional

costs since the pipeline is now in excess of 6 km in length.

Figure 27.8. Rudimentary dam in Wadi Ghuwayr to collect water prior

to transfer through pipes for irrigation.



27.3.3 The cooperative functioning

The Sail Faynan cooperative is managed by a council, elected by

the male members of the tribe, which is responsible for ensuring

that the activities are coordinated and that the needs of the village

are met. Women are excluded from participation in the activities

of the cooperative, as are members of the Al-Azazma tribe. As the

cooperative has developed it has become important in providing a

degree of social unity and has a key role to play in the socio-

economic development of the tribe. Prior to 2004 there were only

33 members of the cooperative; in 2004 this had increased to 80

members, with a further increase to 180 in 2008, and the projec-

tion is to reach 250 members by the end of 2009.

The cooperative has managed the use of water and land allo-

cation among the tribe’s members since 2004, and negotiates

with entrepreneurs from outside the village (principally from

Amman and Qurayqira) who have sought to develop commercial

production on the lands managed by the cooperative. The

members each have access to one dunum in turn, according to

a system of rotation. In order to manage resources more effi-

ciently and to gain greater benefit from the system, the members

have often consolidated plots from the family and allocated it for

the use of one individual. In order to maintain a sustainable

activity and to control the land use, the cooperative charges a

rent for each season based on the land area used, and this

includes the cost of water supply. There is a rent differential in

favour of villagers; in 2008, for example, farmers from outside

the village paid an annual rent of 80 JD per dunum, while farmers

from the cooperative paid 50 JD per dunum. The external invest-

ors are allowed to import labour principally from Syria and

Egypt. The use of the land by non-villagers has resulted in

considerable financial benefit to the cooperative. The initial

capital of the cooperative was 5,000 JD in 2004, increasing to

8,100 JD in 2006 and 9,645 JD in 2007. The net profit of the

cooperative was 14,449 JD in 2006, rising to 27,198 JD in 2007

and almost 40,000 JD in 2008.

27 .4 THE ECONOMIC AND

ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS OF THE

IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEM

The entire exploitable land area is around 500 dunums, according

to the cooperative leader. All farms managed by the local farmers

are small-scale systems of 20 dunums, owing to the lack of

financial assets and the limited management capability, whilst

the private entrepreneur, with his local partnerships, has the

largest-scale farm, an area of 200 to 250 dunums, managed by

experienced foreign labourers. The land managed by the

cooperative is almost exclusively under two crops, namely toma-

toes and watermelons. This choice of crops is based on the

suitability of local conditions, the timing of production and the

availability of markets and a seasonal strategy to optimise pro-

duction from the land. Currently there are three strategies of land

management being practised:

1. The cooperative member leases the land to a third person,

often from outside the village. In 2009, for example, a

member of the Al-Azazma tribe who wished to cultivate

crops on the land was involved. The cooperative member

supplies all the necessary planting materials, fertilisers and

pesticides. The lessee has the right to 25% of the profit

when the harvest is sold. This arrangement is more fre-

quently practised during the tomato growing period.

2. The cooperative member agrees with an individual from

outside the village who will invest capital in the activity.

Currently there are two cases of this arrangement with

involvement of a farmer from nearby Qurayqira and an

entrepreneur from Amman.

3. Members of the cooperative work and manage the land

themselves.

Each year the local farmers plant tomatoes but do not necessarily

plant watermelons, owing to the high costs associated with

production, the ever-present risk of production loss as a result

of nematode infection and the high demand for labour. In order

to understand the strategies developed by farmers for both crops,

we will explore the example of a local farmer with limited

resources and knowledge, who opted for planting tomatoes,

whilst the example of a private entrepreneur will be developed

for the case of the watermelons.

27.4.1 The process for tomato farming

Abdurrahman is a young man from Al-Rashaida in his late

twenties. He left school at 15 and, as he was unable to find work

Figure 27.9. Water storage basin near the farm for irrigation.



in the village, decided in 2004 to work in agriculture together

with his brother. He was able to bring together 20 dunums from

among his family who are members of the cooperative. As with

most of the Al-Rashaida, he had limited experience in agriculture

and sought guidance and information from a variety of different

sources including other farmers in the Qurayqira village who

have experience of this form of work, and the merchants selling

fertilisers, seeds and other agricultural supplies. With time he

gained more experience and knowledge.

Tomatoes are grown from the middle of August to November.

After removing stone and boulders from the land, Abdurrahman

ploughs and levels it. He connects the 3 inch water pipes from the

main pipe from Wadi Ghuwayr and then he fertilises the land in

solute form through the water pipes. The land is flood-irrigated

for three consecutive days. He lays drip irrigation pipelines with

2 m spacing between irrigation lines, covers the land with black

plastic and makes holes in the position of each drip point where

the plant is sown. During the establishment phase, the plant is

irrigated first for 30 minutes every 2 days until it is established,

and then for 60 minutes every 2 days until harvest. The fertilisa-

tion process is done over many stages as following: 2 kg of

phosphorus is given per dunum 7 days after planting the seedling,

nets (Gro-Nets 5�30) are placed over the crop after 30 days to

protect against white fly, 2.5 kg of urea is given after 40 days,

and finally 3 kg of potassium after 60 days. In 2008, the total cost

for tomatoes, including labour, cooperative fees, fertilisers, pesti-

cides etc., reached 4,000 JOD for 20 dunums, whilst the harvest

from each dunum was between 2–3 tonnes, sold at 200 to 250

JOD per tonne. The net income over 20 dunums in 2008 was of

the order of 10,000 JOD.

27.4.2 The process for watermelon farming

Issa is a private entrepreneur with considerable farming experi-

ence in a rural area close to Amman where the costs of pumping

water proved prohibitively high. Following a period growing in

the Jordan Valley he moved to Wadi Faynan after being con-

tacted and encouraged by local cooperative members to invest in

Faynan. The land he occupies is watered by three pipes that he

bought with his associates, and he pays 30,000 JOD per year to

the cooperative for both watermelon and tomato seasons. Water-

melon needs a high level of management with respect to land

treatment, fertilisers, water and pesticides. For this reason and

regarding the size of the farm (an average of 200 dunums in

recent years), Issa and his partners brought in qualified foreign

workers. Such labour is provided by Egyptians from the Al-

Fayoum region who were recruited through agencies in Amman.

They have an annual contract with work in Wadi Faynan occur-

ring from July to May. Many return for more than one annual

cycle. The salary per month is 200 JOD, three-quarters of which

is sent home to their families.

The cultivation of watermelons begins between the end of

December and the beginning of January. During the early stages

of crop establishment and growth the watermelons are cultivated

under plastic, which is removed in late March as the temperature

rises. The initial land preparation is the same as for tomatoes.

However, as the watermelon grows laterally rather than verti-

cally, the planting density for watermelons is 30–50% of that of

tomatoes. Also, because of the susceptibility of watermelon to

root-knot nematode infection in their roots, which can drastically

reduce both the volume and quality of yields, some farmers pass

gas (1,3-dichloropropene) through the root zone in a set of pipes

prior to planting. Because of the increasing costs associated with

this treatment, it is used only infrequently. The alternative

approach to dealing with nematode infestation is to move the

zone of cultivation to an adjacent area and allow natural sanita-

tion of the soils through ‘solarisation’, which is effective at the

prevailing temperatures but requires a reasonably moist soil, a

requirement that may be a constraint in this area of water

scarcity.

The production of watermelon is highly dependent on the

provision of sufficient water at key stages of the growth cycle.

After the land has been ploughed and levelled, the land is

irrigated for consecutive days – three to five – until it is satur-

ated. Following the initial planting of seedlings, the water is

supplied for the first 7 days by drip irrigation across the site for

5 minutes. From this point onward the period of irrigation is

incrementally increased to 20 minutes per day. This rate must be

achieved before the full growth stage is reached. Once the fruits

begin to ripen, the crop is irrigated all day and this normally

takes place around mid-April.

The watermelon needs more fertilisers than tomatoes do as it

grows. The farmers are not restricted to a fixed time to use

fertilisers and it is done according to the strategy of each farmer

and to their personal sources of information. The types of fertil-

isers used are urea, potassium, ammoniac, and a standard

20:20:20 mix of N:P:K. Some farmers use phosphate from the

beginning if the quality of the soil is poor, but this is not always

necessary. Urea is the most heavily used fertiliser; it is applied 15

days after the planting on a weekly or two-weekly basis

depending on the crop needs (around 2.5 kg of urea per dunum).

In addition, potassium as well as the standard 20:20:20 mix of N:

P:K is applied 50 days after planting to increase the size of the

crop if the rate of growth is slow, or during cooler periods to

maintain normal growth.

In the case of Issa’s farm, the Egyptian workers use the

following quantity of fertilisers per dunum: 2 kg of phosphorus

after 14 days of planting, 2.5 kg of urea after 21 days, 3 kg of

ammoniac after 35 days, 3 kg of 20:20:20 mix of N:P:K after 60

days, and finally 3 kg of potassium after 70 days according to the

need of the crop which is usually just 15 days before the first

harvesting around 20 April. After the plastic cover has been



removed, the plants are treated, if needed, with pesticides such as

Leneth or Zeneb or sulphur (liquid). The use of gas through pipes

at an early stage, as described above, also provides a degree of

sanitation against other microbiological pests such as Fusarium

wilt as well as addressing nematode infection. In general, the

cropping strategies developed by many farmers in Faynan reflect

that the fertiliser needs of plants or pesticides are relatively

poorly understood by the farmers and many of the merchants

have limited knowledge of the specific demands for both crops in

an intensive system such as this. Thus, the strategy for fertiliser

applications is often a result of trial and error of farmers.

Watermelon has higher production costs than tomato but it is

more profitable. The costs for planting watermelon in terms of

rent, labour, fertilisers and pesticides are approximately 6,000 JD

for 20 dunums. The returns on harvested watermelons vary

during the harvest period. Each dunum produces between 2 to

3 tonnes of saleable product. The price per tonne may reach 500

JD between the end of April and mid-May.

In the past two years Faynan has seen a substantial expansion

in the area cultivated both for tomatoes and watermelons, but

additionally there is an area where the sole crop is watermelon.

There has been an increase to 15 in the number of farmers

working together in small groups. This expansion has given rise

to considerable pressure on the water resources, with rationing

being introduced in respect of the frequency and duration of

irrigation. This restriction could seriously affect yields, particu-

larly of watermelon. Furthermore, more pipes will be needed to

transfer water to the fields, at more financial cost. Any invest-

ment by the cooperative in this area means the increase of rent

will constitute a further cost for the local farmers who are dealing

with a small budget, an average of 5,000 JD per 20 dunums.

27.4.3 The market for tomatoes and watermelon

The timing of watermelon production in Wadi Faynan is early

relative to other production areas in the region, providing farmers

with a competitive advantage of at least 2 weeks compared with

other farms in south Jordan and 2 to 3 months compared with the

international markets. Because of the lack of any local storage

facilities, the watermelon crop is harvested and loaded immedi-

ately on to large trucks for trans-shipment and sale in Amman

and beyond to Syria, Turkey and parts of Eastern Europe (see

Figures 27.10 and 27.11). Much of the crop is sold prior to

harvesting. Because of the short period over which the water-

melon ripens this is the only economic option.

In the case of tomatoes, which ripen over a longer time

span, the local farmers often harvest and deliver in smaller

quantities to markets in Amman. The economic benefit from

tomato and watermelon cultivation has good potential but the

activity is very dependent on the intermediary merchants from

Amman or Aqaba and is exposed to fluctuations in the national

and international markets.

27 .5 THE FAYNAN COOPERATIVE:

IS IT CONTRIBUTING TO POVERTY

ALLEVIATION?

During the interviews in 2009 it became apparent that the

cooperative has had less impact on poverty than was indicated

during the first series of meetings in 2008. The current situation

of the village has changed little, and any improvements appear to

have been more linked to royal donations and government pro-

jects. The tribe members affirm that their condition is still hard

and challenging:

Figure 27.10. Watermelon immediately prior to harvest in the

Faynan area.

Figure 27.11. Watermelons being packed on to trucks in Faynan for

transport north to Amman and for export.



Working in agriculture in the Wadi is a hard job, without

help or assistance from the Ministry of Agriculture or any

entities. No other opportunities to find jobs are available in

this area, except to work seasonally in archaeological

excavations or as drivers for occasional tourists.

According to the survey carried out by DOS and Ministry of

Planning and Cooperation (MoPIC) (Department of Statistics

(DOS), 2007), approximately 99% of households in the Faynan

area do not own livestock, and 95.7% do not have a project that

generates income. The lack of funding was the main reason

accounting for 83.4% of answers, while 13.3% related it to lack

of skills and competences, 1.1% to lack of time, and finally 2.2%

to other reasons. Furthermore, it proved to be very difficult to

determine the income that households were generating from the

cooperative or other activities (for example, some of the sons are

employed by the military and public sectors). But when the

monthly expenditure for 93 families was considered (Ministry

of Planning and Cooperation (MoPIC) and Department of Statis-

tics (DOS), 2007), then it seemed that 85.5% of households spent

less than 199 JOD, which means they cannot cover all their needs

since more than 42% of families have six or more members.

27.5.1 The weak impact of cooperative activity

on poverty reduction

Although locally agricultural production geared towards the

national and international market has increased, there is still

little food production for local consumption and moreover there

have been very limited improvements in income for many of the

local inhabitants. The families buy their food and other provisions

from Qurayqira or from markets in Shawbak, while the backyard

plots around the houses are generally not used to plant vegetables

or fruits. During interviews the heads of families argued that the

land close to their homes is arid. If they irrigate it with fresh water

from their tanks, it would increase the water bills, whilst the water

from the wadi is exclusively transferred by the cooperative to the

farm land. Since 2004, the benefits generated by the cooperative

have not been distributed, in order to increase the capital of the

cooperative and to enable investment in services and equipment

lacking in Faynan area. One of the shareholders explained that in

2009, for the first time, a part of the benefits was distributed but

this did not exceed 300 JD per member. As a result, if the capital

of the cooperative increases each year, there is no essential rev-

enue from it to all households. Meanwhile, although the growing

of commercial crops gives the impression of a commercially

thriving community, in fact the income generated from farming

is limited to 10 to 12 farmers who have the financial capacity to

pursue agriculture.

Despite the apparent lack of work opportunities, most of the

villagers do not manifest a real wish to be involved in agriculture;

instead, workers from the Al-Azazma tribe, Amman, Egypt and

Syria are employed in the different stages of the work. The defi-

ciency of knowledge by tribe members about agriculture was put

forward as an argument for non-involvement, but cannot be a con-

vincing one. It appears that some people are still affected by social

stereotypes: they consider working the land as labour, like the

Egyptians or the Palestinians, to be a low status activity. But it is

also because the families see more benefit from being registered as

unemployed rather than as agricultural workers, and for this reason

the families were discreet about their income in order to keep

benefiting from the social aid provided by MoSD. The message that

the people are poor and need the assistance of the statemay bemore a

question of ‘identity’ than a true reflection of the reality. People still

consider governmental assistance as a resource and a main form of

income. In this context we have the example of Qurayqira village.

Since 1970, they have had wells and agro-cooperatives, but this

village is still considered to be a poverty pocket.

Therefore, at this early stage of the cooperative’s progress, the

prime objective of its leaders is not to reduce poverty or to

enhance the social welfare of the population but to obtain the

right to land and water in preference to the claims of the Shawa-

baka tribe by de facto possession with an ongoing activity. The

leader of the Rashaida tribe considers that the main obstacles to

improve the performance of their cooperative are at the political

and financial levels. This relates to the legal status of land and

the use of groundwater resources, which are so vital to improve

the life of the villagers. This is the situation of most cooperatives

in Wadi Araba, but according to Jaradat (2009), Director of the

Wadi Araba Development Project, the lack of skills and a real

motivation to get involved in agriculture are the main constraints

for the agro-cooperatives.

It is clear that the government seeks to keep the land in state

hands and has adopted an attitude of passivity with regard to this

problem as well as to the illegal use of land and groundwater in

southern Jordan. Many field systems or their extensions are illegal,

and many wells have been drilled on state land without authorisa-

tion (Jaradat, 2009;Ministry ofAgriculture (MoA), 2009), although

exact numbers are not available. Actually, the aim of the govern-

ment is to finance development projects to reduce poverty and

unemployment by enhancing the capacity of cooperatives rather

to distribute the land amongst tribes. In this regard, many initiatives

of development were have been implemented by government and

non-government institutions in southern Jordan.

27 .6 NATIONAL MEASURES OF POVERTY

ALLEVIATION AND THE WADI FAYNAN

AREA

Involvement in the management of Faynan takes place at mul-

tiple levels and with a variety of actors, the principal being the



RSCN, the Department of Antiquity, JVA, the Municipality of

Faynan-Qurayqira, ASEZA and the European Commission (EC)

Delegation. How does the involvement of these actors affect the

socio-economic development of the area and the initiatives of the

local population?

27.6.1 Institutional involvement in socio-economic

development

One of the causes of relative poverty in Faynan – as well other

rural poor areas – is the high level of centralisation and the

extensive bureaucracy which has resulted in failure to deliver

the social and economic infrastructure that is required to

enhance the livelihoods of households (UNDP, 2004). For

example, Faynan is under the responsibility of the Qurayqira-

Faynan Municipality which develops and maintains the infra-

structure and services, but which itself is completely dependent

on the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MoMA). The latter is also

financially dependent on MoPIC, which supervises many pro-

grammes to reduce poverty financed by the donors such the

European Commission Delegation (EC) programme. The EU

cooperates with MoMA and MoPIC in implementing socio-

economic projects in the municipal area and in enhancing the

municipality’s capacity-building. Although the programme

started in 2004, by 2008 it had not achieved its objectives owing

to the high degree of management, overall centralisation and

bureaucracy.

27.6.2 Wadi Araba Project

The ASEZA model has been used for the management of the

city of Aqaba since 2004 and there has been successful devel-

opment in the Aqaba Governorate in the past 3 years as a result

of a relative process of decentralisation. Since 2007, ASEZA

has managed the Wadi Araba Project, of which Faynan is part.

Funded by the Arab Bank and the national Government, almost

60% of the investment is designated for agricultural develop-

ment of eight cooperatives including the Al-Rashaida coopera-

tive, the drilling of 21 wells, developing 2,000 dunums of land,

implementing services, and creating a centre for agriculture to

provide support in the form of technical assistance or feasibil-

ity studies. The other part of the investment is dedicated to

infrastructure. The project is still in its first phase and some

constraints continue to impede progress, such as the legal

status of land and water use, in addition to the tensions

between tribes seeking to benefit from the project. As dis-

cussed earlier, a concrete resolution has not yet been achieved

by the central government, like the issue of obtaining author-

isation for water extraction from JVA, which controls the wadi

flow and the groundwater, and the authorisation to drill wells

(200 to 250 m depth), which is a key to the development of

areas like Faynan.

27.6.3 Promoting ecotourism

Wadi Faynan has a long archaeological history of human settle-

ment from the Neolithic through to the Roman and Byzantine

periods. Located in south-central Jordan, the Dana Nature

Reserve, managed by RSCN in cooperation with local Bedouins,

includes the easternmost part of Faynan and offers opportunities

to develop ecotourism. With an area of approximately 300 square

kilometres, the Dana Nature Reserve is the most important nature

reserve in the country, and was proclaimed as a UNESCO Bio-

sphere in 1998. Faynan Ecolodge offers tourists the opportunity

to explore the archaeological heritage sites from Neolithic to the

Islamic period, the evidence of copper smelting from locally

derived materials and the spectacular desert landscape as well

as encountering semi-nomadic families in their environment (see

Figure 27.6). The RSCN has also established a small centre for

the marketing of local products, for example handicrafts and

natural soap. The RSCN has an agreement with the Hamza

Association for Tourism and Al-Azazma tribes about using their

pick-ups for transporting tourists. The visitors are transported to

and from the Ecolodge for a sum of 10 JD. While RSCN suggests

that it is concerned with supporting local communities by creat-

ing jobs and investing in the reserves, locally the impact of its

initiative is very limited and controversial. The staff of the

Ecolodge point out that they depend strongly on international

tourism as the prices are very high (65 JD per night) and are not

affordable to the local population.

To date the income generated from the Ecolodge and the

Reserve is just sufficient to cover the operating expenses, and

there is little investment into supporting local people who are not

necessarily involved in the activity of the reserve. The Ecolodge

has created only four jobs primarily for those from Qurayqira and

Tafila. Only four women from the Al-Azazma tribe are involved

in the handcraft centre, generating very limited income. No

women from the Rashaida tribe are represented, owing to the

cultural stereotypes about women’s work (personal interviews,

2009). Additionally, the Al-Azazma and Al-Rashaida herders

constantly emphasise the reciprocal relationship between human-

ity and nature, between the trees and plants and their livelihood

as herders (Lancaster and Lancaster, 1999). They consider that

the establishment of Dana Nature Reserve was the ending of their

local autonomy, restricting their movements and constraining

livelihood.

Meanwhile, a project proposing the promotion of eco-tourism

in the area was submitted for funding in 2007 by the University

of California and the Department of Antiquities to MoPIC. The



proposal focuses on the infrastructure of eco-tourism in Faynan

as well in Qurayqira. The aim is to create an archaeological park

to include the Faynan District archaeology, the Faynan Museum

with Bedouin ethnographic exhibits, construction of a camp site

near to Fidan spring, a freshwater oasis pool in the springs of

Wadi Ghuwayr and Ain Fidan, establishment of a Bedouin Tribal

Digital Village (building a small wireless tower in the region to

connect all the local Bedouin schools), and a centre of training

for hospitality. It is a very ambitious project which would bring

job opportunities and improve the livelihoods of the population.

Unfortunately, by mid-July 2009 only the museum was estab-

lished and the other components of the proposals have not

progressed beyond the planning stage.

27 .7 CONCLUSION

This chapter has focused on the role of water and land manage-

ment practices in promoting current development in the Wadi

Fayan area, with particular reference to the recent development

of irrigated agriculture making use of shallow groundwater

sources and more recently perennial wadi flow. It is clear that

the local establishment of cooperative irrigation-based agricul-

ture has brought much-needed capital into the area. It has also

been associated with the establishment of a possible means for

wider community-based socio-economic development. However,

there are real environmental issues to be faced, especially in

relation to the long-term viability and sustainability of such

economic activity. At this stage, the activity has had less of an

impact on poverty reduction than might have been hoped for.

Indeed, our enquiries show that only a very small number of

residents, some 10–12 farmers, appear to be deriving net benefit

at present. The scheme has had negligible influence on patterns

of land ownership and very limited impacts on the enhancement

of basic infrastructure.

It is hard not to reach the conclusion that wider forms of

integrated development are urgently needed if the area is to

benefit. In this connection, in the final sections of the chapter

we briefly examined the need for wider development schemes set

in the context of decentralisation at the sub-regional scale of

southern Jordan. At this juncture, a lack of concerted collabor-

ation among the various stakeholders has contributed to delays in

the socio-economic development of the Wadi Faynan area. The

outcomes of initiatives during the past 10 years, whether imple-

mented by government institutions or by organisations like the

RSCN, have served to emphasize two things: firstly, a lack of

well-rehearsed and implemented coordination at the institutional

level between different entities; and secondly, the generally low

levels of cooperation that have been established with the local

population to assist in getting them more involved in such local

initiatives. These, together with the environmental challenges

presented by the irrigation-based agricultural activity, represent

the major challenges facing the area.

REFERENCES

Al-Jaloudy, M. (2001) Country Pasture: Forage Resource Profile for Jordan.Amman: FAO www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/Jordan.htm

Al-Simadi, F. (1995) The influence of social development and demographicfactors on modern orientations and tribal loyalty in Jordan. UnpublishedPhD thesis: Brigham Young University.

Bin Mohammad, G. (1999) The Tribe of Jordan at the Beginning of the 21stCentury. Louisville, USA: Fons Vitae.

Bocco, R. (2000) International organizations and the settlement of nomads inthe Arab Middle East, 1950–1990. In The Transformation of NomadicSociety in the Arab East, ed. M. Mundy and B. Musallam. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press pp. 197–217.

Bocco, R. and T. Tell (1995) Frontieres, tribus et Etats en Jordanie orientalea l’epoque du Mandat. In Tribus, tribalismes et Etats au Moyen-Orient,ed. R. Bocco and C. Velud. Paris: La Documentation Francaise pp. 26–47.

Carney, D. (1999) Approaches to Sustainable Livelihoods for the Rural Poor.London: Overseas Development Institute www.odi.org.uk/publications/briefing/pov2.html

Crook, D. (2009) Hydrology of the combination irrigation system in the WadiFaynan, Jordan. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 2427–2436.

Darmame, K. (2006) Enjeux de la Gestion du Service d’eau Potable aAmman (Jordanie) a l’epreuve du partenariat public-prive. UnpublishedPhD thesis, Universite de Paris X Nanterre.

Department of Statistics (2007–09) Annual Statistical Bulletins. Amman,Jordan: Department of Statistics.

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (2002–03) Household Income and Expend-itures Survey 2002/03. Amman, Jordan: Department of Statistics.

International Co-operative Alliance (2004) Annual Report. Geneva, Switzer-land: International Co-operative Alliance.

Jaradat, I. (2009) Personal Interviews, February 2009. Aqaba, Jordan: WadiAraba Technical Development Unit.

Jordanian Cooperative Corporation (2009) Statistical Database on Coopera-tives in Aqaba Governorate, Internal Report. Amman, Jordan: Directorateof Cooperation.

Lancaster, W. and F. Lancaster (1999) People, Land and Water in the ArabMiddle East. Environments and Landscapes in the Bilad ash-Sham.Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers.

Lewis, N. (1987) Nomads and Settlers in Syria and Jordan, 1800–1980Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Maluleke, T., V. Thomas, T. Cousins, S. Smits and P. Moriarty (2005)Securing Water to Enhance Local Livelihoods: Community-based Plan-ning of Multiple Uses of Water in Partnership with Service Providers.South Africa: AWARD www.musproject.net.

Metral, F. (1996) Biens tribaux dans la steppe syrienne entre Coutume et droitecrit. Revue du Monde Musulman et de la Mediterranee 79: 89–112.

Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) (2009) Pastoral Resources Information database, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit Amman, Jordan: Ministry ofAgriculture.

Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (MoPIC) (2004–2006) Socio-Eco-nomic Development Plan 2004–2006. Amman: Ministry of Planning andCooperation,

Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (MoPIC) and Department of Statistics(DOS) (2007) Socio-Economic Households Indicators in Wadi Araba,household survey, July 2007. Amman: Ministry of Planning and Cooper-ation (MoPIC) and Department of Statistics (DOS).

Municipality of Qurayqira-Faynan (2007) Study on Qurayqira and villagesFaynan ( ةرقيرقلاةيدلب.نانيفوةرقيرقلاىرقبةيلاحلاعاضواللةسارد

ةحفص15,ةروشنمريغةسارد.نانيفو .): Municipality of Qurayqira-Faynan (unpublished report)

Palmer, C., D. Gilbertson, H. el-Rishi et al. (2007) The Wadi Faynan today:landscape, environment, people. In Archaeology and Desertification:The Wadi Faynan Landscape Survey, Southern Jordan, ed. G. Barker, D.Gilbertson and D. Mattingly. Oxford, UK and Amman, Jordan: Council



for British Research in the Levant in Association with Oxbow Bookspp. 22–57.

Razzaz, O. (1994) Contestation and mutual adjustment: the process of con-trolling land. Law and Society Review 28: 7–39.

Shryock, A. (1997) Bedouin in suburbia: redrawing the boundaries of urban-ity and tribalism in Amman, Jordan. Arab Studies Journal 1: 40–56.

Smits, S., T. Cousins, V. Dlamini et al. (2006) Water, Households and RuralLivelihoods. The WARFSA conference, 2 November 2006, Lilongwe, Malawi.

UNDP (2004) Human Development Report 2004. New York: United NationsDevelopment Programme.

Van Aken, M. (2004) Du Fellah a l’agriculteur: significations symboliquesa travers les champs de la vallee du Jordan. Cahiers de L’Orient 75: 101–124.

van Koppen, B., P. Moriarty and E. Boelee (2006) Multiple-Use WaterServices to Advance the Millennium Development Goals Research Report98. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute.

Wadi Araba Development Project (2007) Progress Report. Unpublisheddocument, Aqaba, Jordan.

World Bank (2004) Jordan Poverty Assessment (2 volumes). Amman:World Bank.


the role of water and land management policies in contemporary socio-economic development in wadi...

Documents