Residents of the small town of Souf in Jerash Governorate have seen their traditional way of life upended as the springs feeding the town’s once-thriving agriculture have dried up and been polluted over the past several decades (Photo courtesy of USAID)

Springs in the town, located 35 miles north of Amman, are either drying up or being polluted, a fact that is changing the area’s landscape and its residents’ way of life.

Vegetables, as well as olive, apricot and citrus trees were widely cultivated in Souf, which was famous for its fertile land and abundant water sources, but in the 1970s, things began to change, according to Mahmoud Odeibat, a farmer who lives in the town.

“Trees stopped bearing fruit and started drying up. We used to have rich vineyards, apple and peach trees, but all we have now are olive trees that do not bear much fruit as they rely on the dwindling rainfall,” he told reporters during a recent media tour organised by the USAID-funded Public Action for Water, Energy and Environment Project to springs in Souf.

Farmers started abandoning their farms and leaving the town in search of jobs to support their families, Odeibat added.

“With recurring years of drought, farmers became unable to sustain their farms, which have been sold, abandoned or planted with olive trees,” he noted.

Agricultural land in Souf has dramatically decreased from 300 dunums to a mere 40 dunums over the past two decades due to the lack of water. This has affected the local community, forcing them to abandon agriculture and many to migrate to bigger cities such as Jerash and Amman due to the lack of opportunities.

“People used to plant all kinds of vegetables, but with the scant rainfall, many springs dried up and people stopped farming,” Um Majed, a housewife and a mother of four, said.

She noted that people are changing their way of life and becoming consumers instead of producers

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