Near East Foundation

People We Serve

Zaharat Al-Aghoar Cooperative

El-Shouneh has a population of 60,000 people. In June 2008, the Near East Foundation took the first step towards an initiative to lessen the 25 percent poverty rate that plagues the area. All issues in this region relate back to agriculture, the community's only source of revenue. This reliance leaves inhabitants extremely vulnerable to fluctuations in the market, the threat of unfavorable weather conditions and other unexpected farming problems. In most cases traditional farming is inefficient, time consuming, and considerably wasteful. NEF has worked on combating these difficulties by providing farmers with models for forming farming cooperatives, upgraded irrigation systems, and new techniques to increase yield and efficiency.

In January 2010, members of the community started constructing 44 greenhouses on a 700 dunam plot of land. This simple but modern farm follows a model of efficient and effective farming with gridding, filtered water, and controlled pesticide use. Its greenhouses filter the sun to yield crops twice as fast as open field farming. In addition to its efficiency, the quality of the cooperative’s crops has also improved through the use of a modern water filter system provided by the NEF. In order to filter the water, which is commonly contaminated with sulfur and bromine, well water is collected in an irrigation pool that is then pumped through the filter into a clean tank connected to the irrigation system. Unlike the commonly used technique of crop flooding, the cooperative’s irrigation system has time-release processes for water release to ensure ecological sustainability.

Twenty percent of farm revenue is saved, 50 percent is divided amongst its members, and 30 percent is used to strengthen the community of El-Shouneh. In addition to the profits given to the community, the cooperative also distributes brochures and holds town meetings on new farming technology.

After successfully reaping the first season of cucumbers, squash, mulukhiya, and beans in 2010, the cooperative decided to plant bananas and is looking forward to harvesting tomatoes next year. The vegetables produced on the farm are sold at a wholesale vegetable market in Amman for an astonishing amount of money. The first harvest of bananas, a strong fruit in the market, will yield more than 50,000 Jordanian Dinars ($70,000 USD) net profit. The cooperative is not only changing traditional farming mentalities, but also providing revenue that will continue to better the lives of El-Shouneh inhabitants with every harvest, for years to come.

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