Produce from the Arava Valley

The Wadi Arabah, or “Arava Valley”, is the alternating dry and sandy, then green and productive valley that forms the long western border of Jordan in the south.

In the dry areas, scrub brush grows among the low lying sand dunes and camels wander around in small groups grazing on whatever foliage they can find. In its irrigated areas (a relatively recent development in the country's economic history), the valley has a large stretch of productive farmland that produces a large amount of the produce and fruit for much of the Middle East. Tomatoes, eggplant ("we are everywhere......"), cauliflower, zucchini, lemons, and oranges are all grown here and shipped throughout the region to many of the Gulf countries that do not have similar fertile areas, and rely on Jordan for their produce.

Driving through the area today, it was reminiscent of the Central California Valley, where green fields are surrounded by tall, barren mountains as well. While the Arava Valley isn't nearly as lush, it stands out as a striking green and vegetated contrast in a land where everything else tens to be a shade of brown, sandy and dry.

The economic level of farmers and field workers here gives the impression of being little better than the migrant workers of California. Our guide insists that the people make a decent living and that many of them are living lives that are deemed middle-class and productive. It is hard to measure using one country’s standards against another’s, so I guess the question is not yet answered for me. It was surprising to see so many children out working in the fields or standing at roadside stands, where vegetables and fruit were available aplenty.

It was a nice leisurely drive, necessitated by the fact that we were stuck behind a tomato-truck that we couldn't pass for a while on the road.