AMMAN — Following two exceptional harvest seasons that bolstered the country’s rural economy, the Kingdom’s olive industry faces growing uncertainty in 2025 as water shortages and rising costs threaten production levels and farmers’ incomes, experts and sector stakeholders warn.

 

Representatives told The Jordan Times that the Kingdom’s olive production surged over the past two years, reaching nearly 190,000 tonnes of fruit and around 35,000 tonnes of oil in 2024, marking one of the sector’s strongest performances in years.

 

Adnan Khaddam, president of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union, cautioned that unstable weather patterns and irregular rainfall have negatively affected crops, reducing this year’s yields. “Fewer olives mean less oil to sell, and higher unit costs,” he explained.

 

Farmers across the country share similar concerns. Ahmad Said Eddin, an olive grower from Ajloun, said the effects of climate change have become increasingly visible. “We have noticed fewer flowers and smaller fruits this year,” he said. “Farmers across Jordan entered this season with mixed feelings.”

 

“This year, the yield is almost half of what we expected,” said Qusai Manaseer, an olive farmer from Salt with over two decades of experience. “For us, everything from irrigation to labour to pressing fees has become more expensive, and the price of oil cannot rise fast enough to cover these increases.”

 

In the northern governorates, where many families depend on olive farming as their main source of income, the reduced yield has affected local markets. “The mills are working fewer hours, and many farmers are delaying harvesting because the quantities are small,” said Saed Hamdan, a farmer and mill operator. “When production drops like this, the entire supply chain suffers, from workers picking the olives to traders and exporters.