By Rana Al-Kilani l
In a nation plagued by furnace heat of sunbeams, where rain showers are as will-o’-the-wisp an event as desert mirages on off-to-the-horizon before one’s eyes, Jordan is logging a new page in shortage. A model to be emulated in water shortage in the past, the Kingdom is becoming an international model of water-saving technologies and green-farming.
From rural home recycling of greywater to artificial intelligence farming, Jordan’s conservation project is making waves on the front pages of global newspapers — and proving necessity is the mother of invention.
Jordan is also plagued by one of the most severe water crisis conditions on earth. The world’s second driest nation behind Iraq, the Kingdom boasts only 100 cubic meters of renewable water per capita annually as opposed to a global average of 7,500 cubic meters. Regional conflict, further refugees, and ongoing heightened climate change have all been contributing factors.
As the rest of the world prepares to face crisis, Jordan is preparing for opportunity. The most far-reaching and ambitious plan for the future of the region’s water, outlined in a World Bank report, has been adopted by Jordan, one that is based on efficiency, conservation, and empowerment of the people.
But the most utilitarian and most economic Jordanian solution is greywater reuse — shower waste, wash, bathroom piped into the house and use it to irrigate the gardens. Same equipment is converting wastewater at home to fruit tree and veggie tree fertilizer in most rural towns.
The Inter-Islamic Network on Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM) launched over 1,000 domestic greywater systems in Jordan. “It’s not water conservation,” claims INWRDAM project manager Ayman Suleiman. “It’s food security and economic resilience.”
Others who could not afford to pay for water bills monthly before now cultivate olives, herbs, and lemons on land that was previously of no use. Success with the systems has also encouraged other desert lands elsewhere and in and around Jordan to attempt to emulate Jordan’s people-first attitude.
Though rural economies rely on low-tech application, hi-tech technology is also transforming food production in Jordan. Advanced irrigation technology using the use of smartphone apps and soil moisture sensors enable the farmers to optimize water use in Jordan Valley’s food strip.
Researchers at the National Center for Agricultural Research (NARC) are designing data-driven solutions that will determine planting times, optimize pest management, and reduce water loss. The farms have been able to increase their output by 30% and conserve water nearly half through the technologies in half of the farms.
“Technology does not have to cost a lot,” insists agronomist Nour Abu Ghoush, also a farmer trainer in how to use the NARC system at little cost. “One sensor is worth profit or loss — between harvesting crops or seeing them dry up.”
Badia fields in arid south Jordan are flowering today after pioneering permaculture projects combining science and ancient tradition. Compost, swales, and dryland farm vegetables are holding the soil together and thriving and healthy at Greening the Desert field demonstration area south of Aqaba.
These initiatives demonstrate international leadership by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), who has praised Jordanian leadership in dryland agriculture. “We are not just creating farms, but ecosystems,” project manager Samer Rawashdeh explains. “We are restoring the land and feeding our population.”
Jordan’s move has not been covert to the nation’s people. In 2021, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel signed a historic peace deal: The Kingdom will exchange clean solar power with Israeli desalinated water. The “Water-for-Energy” agreement was touted as the gold standard of regional climate cooperation by the Middle East Institute.
It is vision-accommodation, not political compromise, whereby water — from tool of war — can be the key to peace.
Jordan’s water-awareness story from water-poverty is being written. Additional money, more creativity, but most of all, will on the part of the people. But success saga of the country is an encouraging footnote: there can be no problem, however daunting, without a solution.
As could be expected from UNESCO, there is growing environmental education in Jordan also to ensure that future generations take responsibility for closing the conservation gap. National culture is being seeded with sustainability in higher education and school plots, as well as civic society action.
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