Visiting farmers in the Jordan Valley

2014 AC4D Goals

This year AC4D is continuing to work for better harvests in the Jordan Valley through engagement in two broad-based programs.

     1)  Working with farmers groups and partner NGOs to provide hands on training in irrigation technology, soil management, crop selection to enhance harvests.

     2)  Working with farmers groups and partner NGOs to develop stronger linkages to markets, foreign and domestic, reduce waste and increase the efficiency of post harvest processing.

Newly planted Bananas in the JV

Operation Mercy hosts annual global project managers meeting in Orebro, Sweden

Project managers from 9 different countries in Central Asia and the Middle East met from May 10 to 18 to discuss the progress of Operation Mercy's programs worldwide.  Project reports emphasized the crosscutting themes of gender equality, long term sustainability, community empowerment, and wholistic transformation of both the community and the individual through stakeholder driven development initiatives.

The initiation of "self help groups" and how they can be used as vehicles for community wide transformation was an area of particular emphasis this year.  Read more about SHGs on Operation Mercy's website.        

Downtown Orebro

Operation Mercy Hosts Training for Jordan Valley Water User Association and Jordan Valley Authority Staff

Members of the Jordan Valley Agricultural Community with their certificates from the Diplomatic Institute

Leaders in the Agricultural Community from all over the Jordan Valley spent 2 weeks being trained and equipped to enhance the work between two key stakeholders in the agricultural community.  Twenty six participants from 9 Water User Associations and the Jordan Valley Authority engaged in workshops and lectures focused on communication skills, teamwork, reporting, time management and community building.  The training, held at the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy in Amman, aims to develop the organizational and interpersonal capacity of two of the main forces for agricultural development in Jordan.

The entire group of 25 participants along with representatives from Operation Mercy Jordan, the Jordan Valley Authority, and GIZ

GIZ and OpMercy Finalize Ag Training Schedule for 2013

An agreement has been reached between GIZ and the AC4D program finalizing a joint on-farm training schedule that focuses on water management. 

AC4D sponsored topics for the training schedule will include; repair and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure, field level irrigation system design, fertilizer and pesticide management, farmer advisory services, and an extended Water User Association data collection, data management, and reporting capacity training.

The 5 trainings, each ranging between 7 and 2 days in length, will begin in April and technical trainings will continue throughout the summer months.       

Operation Mercy Jordan Invited to Participate in USAID's "Water Valuation Study Results Workshop"

A workshop was hosted this week in Amman by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)to showcase a Water Valuation Study recently published outlining the financial output of water used in agriculture on a crop by crop basis in contrast with the financial output of water used in other sectors.

Extension Services and Value Chain Management 

The objectives of the study were to estimate the value of current water usage, to analyze options for improvement while addressing social considerations, and to enhance assessment capacity to support decision and policy making. 

The study found that irrigated horticulture accounts for the vast majority of the value created by agriculture in Jordan and that the locus of that horticulture is in the Jordan Valley.  Seasonal variability also played a strong role in the degree to which water used in agriculture produced a competitive level of financial return when compared with other sectors of the Jordanian economy. 

It was recommended that the key services required by smallholder farmers to maximize financial return on water in Jordan's agricultural sector remain quality extension services and stronger capacity for value chain management that extends beyond the farm gate.  

The study can be accessed on the authors' website in full by clicking the following link:
Water Valuation Study
   

Stakeholder Meeting in Deir Alla

Detailed discussion about the most relevant training topics for the AC4D program in 2013 took place at the recent Jordan Valley stakeholder meeting. 

The King Abdullah Canal flowing at full capacity

King Abdullah Canal

Seeing the King Abdullah Canal flowing at full capacity is a very welcome site.  The Jordan Valley is receiving enough precipitation this winter to fill it's irrigation dam at Kufrein as well as the King Talal Dam to near capacity.  I even saw water coming over a spillway in South Shunna!  We are expecting high quality irrigation water this summer and at greatly improved volume.  The wet season isn't over yet so let's hope for more rain through the end of March to maximize dam and soil storage capacity and to leech soils of salt residue from irrigation.     

View from the Deir Alla Guest House of the Middle Jordan Valley

Full Stakeholder Meeting in the Jordan Valley

GIZ hosted a stakeholder meeting yesterday in Deir Alla for representatives of 10 of the 16 Jordan Valley Water User Associations, representatives from the Jordan Valley Authority and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to solicit input for Operation Mercy's AC4D program training schedule.  More than 30 participants were in attendance and a variety of topics were discussed ranging from institutional requests for data management and accounting trainings to technical requests for on-farm water management strategies and irrigation system design. 

Our initial training is scheduled for June/July 2013 and will include a number of institutional topics.  Before the end of the year we are planning for 3-5 additional technical trainings for individual WUA.  All trainings will be taking place in the Jordan Valley. 

Our staff at Operation Mercy would like to specifically thank Mr. Ali Al Adwan of GIZ for his extraordinary support of AC4D's capacity building goals among farmers in the Jordan Valley.