Socio-Economic Characterization: Muharib and Al Majidyya Jordan_Final Report

Abstract

Jordan is one of the three most water-scarce countries in the world. The severe shortage of water has been exacerbated by drought, depletion of groundwater reserves, population growth, inflow of migrant workers and climate change. The Badia of Jordan, the natural grazing lands, is severely degraded due to continuous grazing, cutting, plowing and severe water shortages. Rainfall is limited (100-200 mm/year) and often many factors such as (low rainfall, uneven distribution, high losses due to intensity, evaporation and runoff, and increased demand on water due to population growth) decrease the available water in any case.

Understanding the socio-economic pattern(s) of any system(s) is essential for adapting to water scarcity. Vulnerability to water scarcity depends on the interactions between changing socio-economic conditions and water scarcity hazards. So this study comes to recommend actions for water management by using water harvesting technique in the agricultural area and to empower the farmers and rural communities.