Reuse of nutrient-rich treated wastewater for a food self-sufficiency in MENA: Addressing health concerns of emerging contaminants of small-scale farmers through agro-ecological tools

SafeAgroMena lies in the water, health, and water for food sectors and will be implemented in Egypt, Jordan, and Iraq, as the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is one of the driest regions in the world. The accelerating water crisis in MENA leads to competition over the available water resources among the different sectors. Policymakers often respond to this competition by reallocating the designated water share of the agricultural sector—which exceeds 50% of water withdrawals in most MENA countries—to other priority uses and users, particularly municipal water users. Meanwhile, treated wastewater reuse is promoted as a substitute for fresh water in agriculture. This reallocation–reuse policy would help maintain MENA's agricultural activities while narrowing the supply-demand gap for freshwater. However, it is expected that such policies will result in ecological, social, and health impacts on both rural and urban communities in the MENA region. On top of this, the potential health impact(s) is due to the emerging contaminants from industrialization and excessive consumption of pharmaceutical products for human or animal use. The current traditional wastewater treatment technologies proved incapable of removing industrial and pharmaceutical pollutants from the treated effluent.

The project’s goal is to explore the efficacy of agroecological interventions to improve safe and sustainable treated wastewater reuse for water and food security with human health, social equity, and environmental sustainability. In Jordan, the project target area is in the Middle Jordan Valley. Treated wastewater from the As-Samara wastewater treatment plant flows by gravity into the King Talal reservoir and mixing with runoff water from Amman-Zarqa basin and finally reaches the Jordan Valley, where the farmers use this water to irrigate their crops.

The project is led by IHE Delft, and the following partners are involved: Nile University (NU), Benaa Foundation, Organic Valley Association for community development and organic agriculture, Holding company of Water and Wastewater (HCWW), Royal Scientific Society (RSS), Society of Women’s Hemah, Muta’a University, Ministry of Water and Irrigation - Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ/MWI), Basrah University, Agricultural Directorate of Basra, World Health Organization (WHO).

The project targets rural communities with fragmented agricultural fields that have limited availability and accessibility to freshwater resources. They encounter serious health and environmental challenges due to the reusing of treated wastewater to fill their increased agricultural demands. The beneficiaries of this project are from several groups, such as the Ministries of Water & Wastewater, Irrigation, Environmental Protection, Agriculture, Education, and Health, associations, municipalities, and organizations either from the public, private, or community-based entities. Besides these beneficiaries, academic and research circles will enrich their knowledge and experience about community-based research, optimum and safe reuse practices, the adoption of agroecological principles, and integrated management approaches. The project will identify and enable emerging leaders of the wastewater reuse sector to cope with the radical changes in the sector with a robust knowledge of wastewater reuse science, technologies, agroecological aspects, and different management styles.