Developing the Eastern Badia, My Current Residence
I live in a region of Jordan called the Eastern Badia, in a small village that is home to I-have-no-idea how many people, even more sheep and goats, and a cluster of Bedouins who have a coffee addiction unlike any Starbuck's devotee in the States. The Eastern Badia region is the entire area east of Amman (the "panhandle" of Jordan) and extends south to an area adjacent to Petra. Its name derives from the root word Bedouin.
Here's some info on the Eastern Badia region, taken from The Rough Guide to Jordan, 3rd edition:
The arid areas of Jordan, known as the Badia, cover approximately 85% of the country, yet are home to only 5% of the population. Although its annual rainfall is less than 200mm, the Badia provides Jordan with over half its groundwater needs and almost a quarter of national GDP: today, these arid regions are seen as the country's agricultural and industrial resource base.
Traditionally, the Badia was home to the nomadic Bedouin, but the growing power of urban communities...increasingly affected Bedouin social life as well as the physical environment. Key resources were exploited mainly for the urban population's benefit, and services and products generated by the urban community became integrated into the lifestyle of the Bedouin, reducing their sense of responsibility for the environment. Vegetation was destroyed, erosion increased, groundwater was tapped, and scarce resources were squandered. The Bedouin became alienated from the central authorities.
Sheep have been a constant problem – a traditional small-scale livelihood for the Bedouin that now severely threatens land resources through overgrazing by hugely expanded flocks. In one sector of the eastern Badia, roughly 18,000 people live in an area of 11,000 square kilometers; in 1996...they shared the land with 1.5 million sheep. And yet, perversely, the local sheep industry is almost nonexistent: Jordan imports most of its mutton from Australia, and wool is a non-starter, with most farmers shearing with hand-clippers for domestic use only. Another significant problem is education: a third of the Badia's children aren't enrolled in school at all. Graduates – especially women – have great difficulty finding jobs in the Badia, so the best local teachers tend to move to Amman. Badia schools give students little grounding in either the arts or vocational sciences such as agriculture or engineering; almost half the Badia's population over the age of 19 is illiterate, and just 3% are university graduates.
However, notions of the Badia and Bedouin life plug directly into the Jordanian psyche. In 1992...Jordan's Higher Council for Science and Technology...established the Badia Research and Development Programme (www.badia.gov.jo)
...The BRDP has identified vast potential in the Badia, ranging from mineral resources to ecotourism, traditional crafts and renewable energy. Badia bees, for example, can produce twice as much honey as those in Ajloun, Jordan's traditional beekeeping centre; in 2001, the BRDP launched a scheme to kick-start production by private-sector Badia apiaries.
[The BRDP] is now attempting to limit the number of sheep per household to just twenty, instead of thousands, and to turn around the priorities of farmers, who devote land and precious water to crops such as tomatoes and watermelon while simultaneously importing vast quantities of animal feed...The BRDP will administer a micro-loan programme to offer skills training and start-up loans to Badia residents, with a specific focus on supporting women in business and home-based industries. Given Jordan's rapidly expanding population, further development of the Badia is inevitable...the BRDP can now take a leading role in the implementation of sustainable policies for the Badia's future.
Here's some info on the Eastern Badia region, taken from The Rough Guide to Jordan, 3rd edition:
The arid areas of Jordan, known as the Badia, cover approximately 85% of the country, yet are home to only 5% of the population. Although its annual rainfall is less than 200mm, the Badia provides Jordan with over half its groundwater needs and almost a quarter of national GDP: today, these arid regions are seen as the country's agricultural and industrial resource base.
Traditionally, the Badia was home to the nomadic Bedouin, but the growing power of urban communities...increasingly affected Bedouin social life as well as the physical environment. Key resources were exploited mainly for the urban population's benefit, and services and products generated by the urban community became integrated into the lifestyle of the Bedouin, reducing their sense of responsibility for the environment. Vegetation was destroyed, erosion increased, groundwater was tapped, and scarce resources were squandered. The Bedouin became alienated from the central authorities.
Sheep have been a constant problem – a traditional small-scale livelihood for the Bedouin that now severely threatens land resources through overgrazing by hugely expanded flocks. In one sector of the eastern Badia, roughly 18,000 people live in an area of 11,000 square kilometers; in 1996...they shared the land with 1.5 million sheep. And yet, perversely, the local sheep industry is almost nonexistent: Jordan imports most of its mutton from Australia, and wool is a non-starter, with most farmers shearing with hand-clippers for domestic use only. Another significant problem is education: a third of the Badia's children aren't enrolled in school at all. Graduates – especially women – have great difficulty finding jobs in the Badia, so the best local teachers tend to move to Amman. Badia schools give students little grounding in either the arts or vocational sciences such as agriculture or engineering; almost half the Badia's population over the age of 19 is illiterate, and just 3% are university graduates.
However, notions of the Badia and Bedouin life plug directly into the Jordanian psyche. In 1992...Jordan's Higher Council for Science and Technology...established the Badia Research and Development Programme (www.badia.gov.jo)
...The BRDP has identified vast potential in the Badia, ranging from mineral resources to ecotourism, traditional crafts and renewable energy. Badia bees, for example, can produce twice as much honey as those in Ajloun, Jordan's traditional beekeeping centre; in 2001, the BRDP launched a scheme to kick-start production by private-sector Badia apiaries.
[The BRDP] is now attempting to limit the number of sheep per household to just twenty, instead of thousands, and to turn around the priorities of farmers, who devote land and precious water to crops such as tomatoes and watermelon while simultaneously importing vast quantities of animal feed...The BRDP will administer a micro-loan programme to offer skills training and start-up loans to Badia residents, with a specific focus on supporting women in business and home-based industries. Given Jordan's rapidly expanding population, further development of the Badia is inevitable...the BRDP can now take a leading role in the implementation of sustainable policies for the Badia's future.
