Socio-economic aspects of the East Ghor Canal Project, Jordan

Abstract

The Jordan Valley has been characterised by irrigated farming for many years but the East Ghor Canal Project represents the first stage of the most recent development. This study examines some of the changes which have occurred in the project since its initiation over two decades ago. The socio-economic changes are seen partly through the continuing adjustment of cropping patterns which are analysed at both the block and farm levels. These are the result of several influences including a greater and more reliable supply of water, new crop marketing opportunities, a reformed land tenure system and a developing infrastructure of farm co-operatives, a farmers' association and extension services to provide supplies, credits and other assistance to farmers. The study uses a sample of over 350 farmers in the project to establish their general characteristics and to statistically test farmer-farm relationships in an attempt to better understand farmer behaviour, particularly with regard to their use of elements of the evolving infrastructure. Several spatial variations are found in the socio-economic characteristics of farmers and their farming behaviour. Some of these show that farmers in the earlier developed northern blocks of the project, with its better environment for irrigated farming, tend to behave differently from those in the more recently developed, poorer and more arid south. Many of these spatial variations are, however, complex and not easily explained. The study ends with a nine-fold grouping of the sampled farmers based on a wide range of socio-economic variables.

More information

Identifiers

Catalogue record

Export record