Middle Jordan Valley, Deir Alla

The Jordan Valley extends from Lake Tiberias, at an elevation of -212 meters above sea level (m ASL), southward to the Dead Sea at a present height of about -429 m ASL (2016). Its width at the north of the Dead Sea is around 20 km, whereas to Lake Tiberias, it is approximately 10 km with a minimum width in its central part of 4 km. The Jordan valley is water-scarce, energy-poor, and home to a rapidly growing population. About 20 % of the poor in Jordan live in rural areas depending primarily on agriculture; they are livestock keepers, smallholders of farm households, and landless former agriculturalists.