Coca-Cola supports Jordan River Foundation's community empowerment program in Wadi Araba

Mr. Antoine Tayyar, the Public Affairs & Communications Manager for Coca-Cola Middle East Corporation, visited this project along with Eng. Mohammad Al-Khatib Deputy Program Manager / Poverty Pockets Projects Manager and Ms. Huda Shashaa International Relations Development Manager to conduct a preliminary assessment of the Coca-Cola funded project and was greatly impressed with the preliminary results.

The project aims to improve the irrigation networking system in the Greigreh area of Wadi Arab, Jordan, by replacing the existing irrigation pipelines with a more efficient irrigation network to ensure the efficient distribution of water to surrounding agricultural lands.

Mr. Tayyar expressed his admiration of the accomplishments done so far, "We are glad to witness such remarkable preliminary results, which led to increasing the impact of water resources in Greigreh and Fenan, in addition to improving the quality of agricultural products" and continued to explain that the Coca-Cola Company is committed to the preservation of water resources globally and has started several initiatives in the Middle East. aiming at recycling, reducing and reusing the water resources especially in water stress areas."

The Jordan River Foundation's involvement in Wadi Araba falls under the Poverty Pockets Program; as the JRF is committed to raising the living standards of the community of Wadi Araba by supporting them through sustainable income generating projects, revolving funds, training and infrastructure development.

The program also aims to empower the two main cooperatives in the area; the Wadi Araba Cooperative and the Amareen Cooperative, both pioneering organizations in the area that were granted the authority by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, to administer the use and allocation of water in Greigreh to agricultural farmland, facing difficulties such as insufficient water system, weak infrastructure in addition to weak water pressure which contribute to limiting the productivity of the farmlands.

Eng. Mohammaed Al Khatib mentioned, "Since the implementation of this Coca-Cola funded project, significant improvements have taken place in the lives of over 1500 farmers in the Greigreh area."

He further explained that 12% more agricultural land is being irrigated, and that water pressure reaching the agricultural lands has increased between 25% and 33%, allowing farmers to sufficiently irrigate their harvest.

Ms Huda Shashaa stressed on the significance of the private sectors role in development, urging other international and local establishments to increase their involvement in the civil society sector; "This Coca-Cola funded project exhibits the importance of the private sectors involvement with civil society organizations; and the profound impact that such partnerships have on both the economic and environmental levels."

Established in 1995 and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, the Jordan River Foundation (JRF) is a non-profit Jordanian non-governmental organization (NGO). The Foundation is also registered in the USA as a 501c3 entity, and as a charity organization in France and the United Kingdom.