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Developing Sustainable Infrastructure to Counter Water Scarcity and Meet Food and Energy Demands in Jordan - GCP/JOR/018/SWI

Year of publication 2021

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 2

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Edition 1

Synopsis (short abstract) Water scarcity in Jordan is driven primarily by the arid to semi-arid climatic conditions and has been intensified over recent decades due to population growth. The sustainable use and management of groundwater is of particular concern because of its importance to socio-economic development and local ecosystems. However, groundwater sources are under threat as a result of mismanagement and overexploitation for irrigated agriculture. In addition to placing pressure on Jordan’s supply of groundwater, agricultural activities demand energy, especially for pumping water from wells and pushing it through irrigation systems. Moreover, the lack of local energy resources and the high energy demand for social and economic development present additional challenges. Since agriculture is essential to rural livelihoods in Jordan, interventions are required to reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of rural and disadvantaged communities. To this end, the project adopted its defining 3-pronged approach, which focused on (i) water harvesting, (ii) the conjunctive use of groundwater and (iii) solar-powered drip irrigation.

Language English

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    This report constitutes part of the project GCP/JOR/018/SWI: “Reduce vulnerability in Jordan in the context of water scarcity and increasing food/energy demand” project, funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC). The objective of this report is to address project output 4: “Prepared appropriate long-term policy, regulatory and institutional frameworks to facilitate the adoption and scale-up of the three-pronged approach and integrate it within national food-water-energy related policies/ strategies and programmes”, activity 1: “Review and evaluate previous strategies related to individual components of three-pronged approach in the region”. The report constitutes a review of the key institutional actors, regulatory frameworks and policies in the water harvesting, solar energy and ground water sectors, and an analysis of the corresponding policy and institutional gaps.
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