Urban farmers in Jordan’s capital, Ammam, have harvested a second crop of wheat grown in the ancient city’s glamorous shopping district.
One of the Al-Barakeh wheat fields in Ammam
The food sovereignty initiative was begun by a social enterprise, Al-Barakeh, in 2019 when bread became scarce during a strict CoViD lockdown. Until the 1960’s Jordan was a significant wheat exporter, but urbanisation, globalisation and an end to government subsidies means the nation now imports 97 percent of its wheat. Al Barakeh now sell’s 700 bags of bread every day, made with local wheat. Al-Barakeh founder, Rabee Zureikat, says that the word Barakeh means blessing, “a value system based on sharing and cooperation, being a part of a community and part of nature.”
Geoff is an author, publisher and performer dedicated to building an independent media. He worked for Australian Consolidated Press as a Packer editor until starting his own media company in the mid-nineties.
The Generator started life as a radio show on Byron Bay's Bay FM and continues as an umbrella for the Cage, the Cross and Great Notion. These digital assets have now been shared with EcoRadio.net, a radio show with a similar history.
