Tracing Soil Amendment Impacts of Processed Bio-solids on the Rehabilitation of Jordan’s Agro-pastoral Areas

About

The proposed TRACE Rehab project aims to combat the ongoing degradation and desertification of Jordan’s dry rangelands (the Badia) and to re-vitalize these depleted agro-pastures essential to the rural population depending on a livestock-based agricultural system. In the long term, the project will contribute to securing community livelihoods and the Bedouin tribal heritage of the country.

Impact

Goals

Thriving dry rangelands (Badia) provide water, food and resilient livelihoods to its host communities in a large scale nutrient-cycle context.

Objectives

1) achieving resilience and nutrient enhancement of degraded rangelands (Badia) to vitalize an essential natural resource base serving Jordan’s rural livestock-based agricultural system, and 2) recycling of communal wastewater treatment by-product and providing a solution for upcoming storage issues.

Impact pathways

The study strives to achieve two outcomes. First, that nutrient-enriched agro-pastures (pilot to small watershed scale) have increased soil fertility, land productivity and better withstand degradation for the benefit of the local livestock farmers, which are identified as downstream end-users. And second that collaborating wastewater treatment centers operate with reduced storage burden and resource loss through recycling of fertile processed sludge.