IFAD-supported soil and water conservation activities in the south of Jordan show how poor rural people can adapt to erratic rainfall, improve their incomes and nutrition, and in the process contribute to mitigating the effects of global warming by growing trees that can absorb carbon dioxide.

“Before the project, this land was waste – barren and full of stones and thorny shrubs, nothing else,” says Maliha Maita, who owns about 2.5 hectares of land in Raba village near Karak in Jordan.

The project helped poor farmers like Maliha build stone walls and terraces to stop erosion and water run-off. They built more than 1,000 cisterns to collect winter rainfall to irrigate their farms during the drier seasons. These cisterns use gravity to drive water through the farm irrigation systems instead of using fuel-powered water pumps.

The project’s engineers planned where Maliha should build stone terraces and where the water cisterns should be excavated. Maliha received credit to dig three cisterns, and additional small loans for planting trees. Now she is able to collect rainwater for her farm in the cisterns. Precious topsoil and water remain trapped in the strategically built terraces. Her land has become more fertile, and she has been able to plant olive and pistachio trees, grapes and barley.

As a result of the project, incomes of more than 40,000 people have risen by 12 per cent and family nutrition has improved. The second phase, which began in 2005, promotes water harvesting techniques, such as wadi bank (stone barrier) protection, instead of relying on groundwater for irrigation. It has helped establish associations of water users and supports research on using treated domestic wastewater to irrigate trees. Initiatives such as this have helped Jordan diversify its agriculture and increase the replenishment of groundwater.

Source: IFAD