Jordan Times
Friday, May 7, 2004
Cooperative society loans help
women set up income-generating projects
By Rami Abdelrahman
AJLOUN — Three years ago, Nihad Affif started a farming project with a JD200
loan — today her farm generates profits of over JD200 a month.
“In 2001, I had half a dunum of land where I used to plant thyme. I got a loan
from the Green Mountain Women's Cooperative Society, and it helped me expand my
land to two dunums,” the mother of four children told The Jordan Times.
Standing in front of her own house in Ajloun's Green Mountain Village, Affif
(Umm Udai) proudly pointed to the edge of her farm and described how she was
able to overcome her family's poverty.
“All my children are in school, and I do not plan to have any more. Their father
is a military man, and thank God we do not need to stretch out our hands for
help to anyone anymore,” she added.
The thyme cultivated by Affif is now sold in Ajloun, Jerash, Irbid, Anjara, and
sometimes Syria. “The only difficulty we face at our farm is marketing — I go
myself to all the markets to promote our products,” she added.
Nevertheless, Umm Udai and several other independent women in Ajloun's rural
villages are planning to expand their projects utilising revolving loans
available through women's cooperative societies in the area.
The Green Mountain society is currently helping Umm Udai buy sheep and chicken,
plant olive and peach trees, and establish her own bee-keeping industry.
The society was established in 1999 with 140 women members to help those like
Umm Udai and find employment opportunities for villagers.
Funding was provided by a UNDP Global Environment Forum (GEF) grant of $30,000,
$5,000 and technical assistance from the German Agency for Technical Cooperation
(GTZ) and a $5,700 grant from the Water Efficiency and Public Information for
Action (WEPIA), according to Nour Ammarat, the secretary of the society.
Christine McNab, UNDP resident coordinator and representative in Jordan, visited
the society last week to view the improvements in women's living conditions in
the area. During her visit, McNab discussed self-sufficiency projects with local
residents and Jorg Weik, the head of GTZ in Jordan.
Weik told The Jordan Times that more than 1,000 families were benefiting from
the society, while a UNDP engineer said the GEF's Small Grants Programme was
helping 90 per cent of the rural community's farmers.
The “cost sharing” cooperative method adopted by the NGOs is aimed at keeping
families in their lands and decreasing domestic migration by helping village
residents earn “a better living.”
The society also gives students educational revolving loans to increase the
literacy of the area's women.
The UNDP delegation also visited the “Lower Khsheibeh” Women's Cooperative
Society, whose 200 female members are earning a living through horse and rabbit
rearing, small grocery stores, water harvesting and land reclamation.
The GEF gave the society a $21,000 grant, while the GTZ is providing the women
with technical assistance, according to the secretary.
The society gave a presentation on traditional garment production in the area,
whose finished goods are sold in Amman's clothing and accessories stores for
prices reaching JD100.
In Ajloun's Al Saffa area, the delegation visited Al Hilal Society, which was
established in 1997 to serve the villages of Sakhneh, Shakara, Zarra'a, Souf,
Fakhreh and others. The society gives cash to the poor and vocational training
to the villagers.
Ahmad Greishat, a society official, said the cooperative society is currently
assisting 285 different projects with a $31,000 GEF grant, JD5,150 from WEPIA
and other grants from the GTZ and the British embassy in Jordan.
“The society has 85 members, including 23 women, and it helps students
financially, and creates self-sufficient projects with the GEF, such as
bee-keeping, land reclamation, and construction of pipelines,” Greishat said.
He told The Jordan Times the area has become famous nationwide for its
production of sour-honey — a kind of honey used by diabetics.
The UNDP asked the society to propose new ideas for feasible projects, to which
the organisation is allocating $19,000. The members said they were studying the
feasibility of setting up a factory to produce charcoal from olive residue.
The society members asked the Ministry of Water and Irrigation to connect the
village houses with the newly constructed water network, saying they did not
have the finances to do it themselves.
Saffa residents have been drinking water unfit for domestic use for years,
Greishat added.
The delegation also visited the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Dry Land
Biodiversity Project a few kilometres down the Green Mountain.
The project includes land reclamation of a 10-square-kilometre area, which
includes water-harvesting wells.
The UNDP is currently supporting 97 projects with a budget of $3 million across
the Kingdom, the majority of which are located in the more impoverished southern
governorates.