Jordan is a Middle Eastern kingdom located on the East Bank of the River Jordan. It’s only port located, in the south-west, is shared with Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia. The country’s capital is Amman. More than half of Jordan’s land is a part of the Arabian Desert. Its eastern part has oasis and seasonal water streams for irrigation while the western part has both arable land and Mediterranean forests. Jordan is considered as an upper middle income country with well developed infrastructure and relatively high standard of living along with an emerging free economy. There are 12 provinces or governorates in Jordan, which are sub-divided into 54 districts. Each governorate has its own capital. In 2011, Jordan had a population of 6,181,000, not counting about 200,000 immigrants and/or refugees. The annual population growth rate, recorded in 2004, was 2.5 percent.
Context
Context
The climate of Jordan is Mediterranean, with dry hot summers and cold and wet winters with snowfall at higher altitude. Before and after the summer, the country faces a brief spell of dusty, hot desert winds of high speed rising from the south, which are potentially destructive for crops. Hardly 10 percent of the land is suitable for agriculture. Food imports are high, with wheat and barley largely grown in the rain-fed uplands. Irrigated agriculture exists in the Jordan Valley because of East Ghor Canal where citrus fruits, melons and vegetables, like cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplants, cultivated with higher production than the marketing demand. Planting of olive and fruit trees has caused a reduction in the country’s pastures for livestock, which comprise sheep, goats, camels, cattle, mules, donkeys and poultry. Water remains a limiting factor for agricultural operations.
Several multi-lateral and bi-lateral donors have provided financial and technical assistance to Jordan in various sectors. The assistance for the agriculture sector, however, has mainly come from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) including agricultural development, financial services, rural infrastructure, livestock and fisheries, capacity building and institutional development, storage, food-processing, marketing, research, training and small and medium enterprise development; USAID working on water resource management, France (AFD including the fertilizer industry), Germany (GIZ including water and environment, agriculture and rural development, institution and capacity building), Canada (CIDA including environment, vocational education and water improvement), and the Islamic Development Bank including agriculture sector support. The World Bank has proposed a $ 3.3 million Global Environment Facility Trust Fund Grant in June 2012 for the Badia Ecosystem and Livelihood Project.
Key Statistics and Indicators
|
Indicator |
Value |
Year |
|
Agricultural land (sq km) Agricultural land (% of land area) Arable land (hectares) Arable land (% of land area) Arable land (hectares per person) |
10,250 11.54 200,000 2.25 0.03 |
2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 |
|
Fertilizer consumption (kg per hectare of arable land) |
359.19 |
2009 |
|
Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) Food production index (2004-2006 = 100) Food exports (% of merchandise exports) Food imports (% of merchandise imports) |
3.32 122.17 16.58 16.22 |
2011 2010 2010 2010 |
|
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) |
4,380 |
2011 |
|
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) Ratio of young literate females to males (% ages 15-24) Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%) |
92.19 98.94 98.95 99.99 105.89 |
2007 2007 2007 2007 2010 |
|
Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) Internet users (per 100 people) |
118.20 35.74 |
2011 2011 |
|
Population, total Population density (people per sq. km of land area) Rural population Rural population (% of total population) Agricultural population (% of total population)* Total economically active population Total economically active population in agriculture* Total economically active population in agriculture (in % of total economically active population) Female economically active population in agriculture (% of total economically active population in agriculture)* |
6,181,000 68.11 1,068,583 17.28 6.30 1,553,052 113,000 7.27 61.94 |
2011 2010 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2010 |
Sources:The World Bank; *Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAO
The following list shows an excerpt from the Acknowledgements
- Authored by M. Kalim Qamar (November 2012)
- Edited by Burton E. Swanson
- Updates on extension staff numbers and functions of NCARE provided by Dr. Samia Akroush, Director of Socioeconomic Studies Directorate, National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE), Baq’a, Jordan