The
Jordanian Badia is a vast and diverse region that covers 80 percent of Jordan's
total area and is subdivided into three regions: the Northern Badia, the
Central Badia, and the Southern Badia. And it is an untapped goldmine.
اضافة اعلان
The Badia differs from the desert, as it is home to
more extensive plant and animal life. It is traditionally inhabited by Bedouins,
who are active in agriculture work and managing livestock, among other
occupations. However, rising temperatures, land
degradation, and increasing
water scarcity have made it difficult for Badia communities to sustain their
livelihoods. In turn, many Bedouins are moving into new economic activities
such as service jobs. Although Bedouins have not entirely lost their indigenous
knowledge, some transition activities are evolving to respond to
desertification, urbanization, and modernization.
Despite
these challenges, the Badia region presents significant potential for economic
growth and development. By investing in the Badia’s vast lands for
agriculture, the Kingdom can become a significant source of grain and ensure
food security, potentially even becoming an exporting country. And transforming
Jordan into a regional center for green services and industries will create job
opportunities and establish a comprehensive ecosystem, utilizing the numerous
natural resources available in the area, including phosphate mines, oil
shale, copper, lithium, rare-earth element, silica, and many non-exploited
natural minerals.
To take advantage of this, new approaches to enhance
innovation and invention within rural businesses are required, especially in
the business world. Access to clean energy, such as sun, wind, biomass, geothermal, and
hydrogen sources, can support low-carbon, resource-efficient, and socially
equitable investments in rural areas and sustainable management of natural
resources. This, in turn, can improve human well-being and increase income
opportunities, particularly for the youth who are attracted to advanced skills
and relatively better income opportunities.
By investing in the Badia’s vast lands for agriculture, the Kingdom can become a significant source of grain and ensure food security, potentially even becoming an exporting country.
Access to energy also enables a
range of other productive activities, particularly digitalization, water
management, food processing, storage, and transport of agricultural products
with the development of hydrogen-based transport fuels.
Rural populations often
depend directly on the environment and natural resources for their livelihoods,
such as agriculture, forestry, mining, and tourism. To achieve sustainable
development goals, the Badia region needs to undergo a digital transformation
to enhance entrepreneurship and the rural social solidarity economy (SSE)
transformation model. The digitalization technology transformation of
entrepreneurship is the main driving force in achieving sustainable development
goals (SDGs).
The Badia region also
has the foundation and conditions to take advantage of digital innovation hubs
(DIHs), which can create e-commerce opportunities and foster entrepreneurial
abilities in agribusinesses.
Fostering sustainable
tourism that capitalizes on the Badia area's cultural, historical, and
ecological characteristics can also make it an appealing ecotourism site and a
strong candidate for broad-ranging development activities. Community-based
tourism can provide another angle for tourist attraction as a sustainable
approach that relies on communities and their resources.
To
ensure the fragile economic ecosystem is revitalized, the government must work
closely with all stakeholders; and the sector can attain long-term
environmental, social, and economic sustainability goals.
A
holistic appraisal of the economic impact of each government initiative needs
to be undertaken to develop a roadmap for developing different levels of
clustering benefiting from existing assets and infrastructure.
Fostering sustainable tourism that capitalizes on the Badia area's cultural, historical, and ecological characteristics can also make it an appealing ecotourism site and a strong candidate for broad-ranging development activities.
All
incentives, including training and building capacities for locals, can
encourage entrepreneurs and foreign direct investors to inject their
investments in the Badia areas, qualifying human forces for agricultural,
industrial, clean energy, and tourism to fulfill the Kingdom's vision 2033.
Hamzeh S. Al-Alayani is a board member of a
Jordanian public-sector government investments management company and a regular
regional energy and industrial commentator. Hamzeh holds an MBA from the
University of Aberdeen, UK, and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering.
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