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Jordan

Surrounded by conflict, Jordan remains stable. However, the situation is aggravated by constant water shortages and high unemployment.

 

 

Jordan

Capital

Amman

Official language

Arabic

Area

88,780km²

Population

approx. 7.6 million　

Population growth

approx. 2.3%

Rural population

approx. 18%

Gross domestic product

36.4 billion US dollars

Annual income per capita

11,300 dollars

Agriculture as a proportion of GDP

3.8%

Severity of hunger according to the Global Hunger Index

low (score: 5.7; trend: 0.2)

Proportion of the total population undernourished

1,8%

Human Development Index

0.748 – Ranking: 86 out of 188

 

Jordan – an oasis of peace?

Jordan is surrounded by hotbeds of crisis and conflict. Its neighbours, Syria and Iraq, can find no peace, and tensions remain high in the adjoining Gaza Strip. By contrast, Jordan has somehow managed to maintain peace. But through it all, the desert nation has its own major problems – the biggest of all being a constant shortage of water. The situation has been further exacerbated in recent years by the arrival of large numbers of refugees. According to the latest data, 680,000 refugees from Syria are officially registered in Jordan. Experts believe that the actual number of refugees in Jordan is much higher. Though the official population figure is around 7.6 million, the Government estimates that the growth in refugee numbers has increased this to approximately 9.5 million. In terms of number of inhabitants, only Lebanon has taken more Syrian refugees. With so many more people to provide for, Jordan is facing big challenges, particularly on the job market. There had already been a long-term shortage of job opportunities among Jordan’s very young population – the unemployment rate is at least 14.6 per cent, with youth unemployment at 38 per cent.

　

Lack of resources forces rural exodus

Approximately 80 per cent of Jordan’s territory is covered by desert; only four per cent of its land can be used for agriculture. As a result, its range of agricultural products is limited, and the citrus fruits, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and strawberries that it grows, as well as its poultry and dairy products, are mostly consumed at home. Wheat and chickpeas, important ingredients in the national dishes, hummus and falafel, have to be entirely imported. In light of this, it is hardly surprising that four out of five Jordanians today live in cities.

　

Most of all, Jordan is short of water.

　

Jordan is not only poor in fertile land, but also in other natural resources. The only ones of any real significance are phosphates, potash and minerals from the Dead Sea, some of which are used in fertilisers, medicines, cosmetics and cement, and exported. But what the country is short of more than anything is water. With only 140 cubic metres of water per person per year, Jordan is well below the 500 cubic metres generally accepted as the benchmark for the definition of extreme water shortage. Although agriculture accounts for barely four per cent of the gross domestic product, it is the biggest consumer of water. Farmers use almost two thirds of the total water supply. This can be a source of conflict between domestic food security, communal water supplies and the industrial use of water.

　

The shortage of the precious commodity is also noticeable in the cities, which is where most of the Syrian refugees are housed. On average, those in densely populated areas only receive one delivery a week via pipelines. The residents make do with water tanks on the rooftops. The acute water shortage is due to the recent lack of precipitation. The relatively strong population growth, and water resource management that is still found wanting when it comes to efficiency, only exacerbate the crisis.

　

As measured by gross national income per capita, Jordan is actually among the so-called upper middle income countries. Wealth, however, is unevenly distributed across the country. According to World Bank data, about a third of the population lives in poverty during at least one quarter of the year. Economic growth fell from 3.1 per cent in 2014 to approximately 2.2 per cent in 2016. Ongoing conflicts in Syria and Iraq forced the closure of Jordan’s most important overland connections in 2015 and had a damaging effect on the tourism and construction industries. Accommodating large numbers of refugees has driven the already high unemployment rate even higher, affecting 15 to 24-year-olds most of all.

　

LOOK ME IN THE EYE ...　Jordan's typical national dish is called mansaf, which by all accounts takes some getting used to. It originates from Bedouin cuisine and consists of a mountain of rice strewn with various pieces of mutton. The top is usually adorned with the skull of an animal – its empty eye sockets turned towards those partaking. The rice is soaked in a sauce made from goat’s milk, which gives the dish its special flavour.

Sun and water to the fore!

Because of its extreme scarcity, the water sector is a key issue for the Jordanian Government – a constitutional monarchy. Up to now it has tried to alleviate the problem by exploiting non-renewable fossil water resources, including those from the Disi aquifer on the border with Saudi Arabia.

　

The aim of the national　water strategy　2016-2030 is to expand the desalination of water from the Red Sea in the next few years to make it the main source of drinking water. At the same time, this will counter the falling water level in the Dead Sea, which has been suffering from overexploitation. In the future, Jordan also intends to turn its attention more to the expansion of renewable energy. In a country that has relied almost exclusively on fossil fuels up to now, the plan is to provide at least 30 per cent of private households with hot water generated by solar power by 2020.

 

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