Nael Abdel Kader Al Edwan, 74 years old, owns abanana farm in Al Kafren, Al Shuna Al Junibyeh, (Jordan Valley), Al Balqa -Jordan.
What has climate change done here?
Years ago, we had plenty of water, and it wasn't salty. We used to plant, harvest, and export our produce to the Gulf states, Syria, Turkey, and Europe. However, in the 2000s, we started facing challenges.
In the early 2000s, the heat in the Jordan Valley became unbearable. We used to hear about the extreme temperatures in the Gulf States and Iraq, where temperatures would reach 60-70 degrees Celsius, but now, those temperatures are here too. This is very costly for us, as we have limited water resources. We don’t have enough water, and we rely on the Al Kafren Dam in the area, which we used to benefit from before the 2000s. After that, illegal drilling of wells near the dam became an issue. In 2008, the government took control of the land below the dam to address the problem, but locals still drill wells due to necessity. Without water in the Jordan Valley, there is no life. We need fresh water for agriculture, not saline water, which isn’t suitable for farming.
The heatwaves have affected 70% of our crops. Trees have been burned by the heat, including bananas. When the temperature rises, more water is needed, but water is scarce. We are given water for only 4 hours, and sometimes 5 hours, but it’s still not enough.
When it rains, the salinity decreases, and the soil absorbs the water, allowing us to farm. But now, rainfall has decreased, and the salinity is still high. I have a piece of land where I planted bananas, but half of the crops have suffered from the lack of water. If we expected a 70% yield, it is now only 30%.
What do you think world leaders have to do now to stop things from getting worse and to help us adapt?
The solution is political. Our water rights with Israel, set in the Wadi Araba peace agreement, were not fully honored. Specifically, our water rights were not fully implemented. Regarding the Al Wehda Dam, which supplies the Al Yarmouk River, a vital resource for both Jordan and Israel, our brothers in Syria have dug wells along the dam and built dams above it, which has significantly affected its capacity. The dam was supposed to hold 110 million cubic meters of water, but now, it only holds about 15 million cubic meters per year. This happened because our brothers in Syria dug wells along the dam and built dams upstream, and as a result, we did not receive our rightful share of water. Our water is being stolen.
My expectations for the years to come are that agriculture will not be sustainable in Jordan if nothing changes. Only if God saves us with rainfall, but that is something we cannot predict. There is no water; it is simply not available. May God help the coming generations with this. Wheat needs water, and we used to plant wheat when we had water. I wish they would provide us with water so we can plant wheat; it’s better than vegetables. You harvest it, get wheat or barley, and use it for yourself. But unfortunately, there is no water for this.
Life expectancy 2023
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