Water security in refugee host communities: Syrian refugees in Jordan

Refugees;Water Security;Development Economics;Resource Economics;Middle East;Syria;Jordan

Barkley, Brett R. ; Chakraborty, Arnab, ; ,Winter-Nelson, Alex E.

关键词: Refugees;    Water Security;    Development Economics;    Resource Economics;    Middle East;    Syria;    Jordan;   

Others  :  https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/78436/BARKLEY-THESIS-2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

美国|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

Previous research has suggested that host communities experience positive welfare effects following a large refugee influx, with local agricultural producers receiving the largest benefits. However, this may not occur in host communities where production inputs such as water are scarce. I adapt a dynamic economic model of groundwater extraction to analyze the environmental impact of the Syrian refugee influx from 2013 onward on the Amman Wadi As-Sir aquifer in the northern region of Jordan. I then show that, given model assumptions, agricultural producers in the Jordanian Highlands experience negative welfare effects as the resource is allocated away from producing sectors of the economy in order to provide for the refugee population. The extent of this effect varies given different scenarios of repatriation or resettlement, and is long-lived as the aquifer is depleted. Finally, I discuss policy implications for increasing water security in Jordan, focusing on two fronts: long-term capacity (e.g. wastewater reuse, infrastructure rehabilitation, and/or desalination) and local capacity (e.g. community water projects). It is left for future research to test the effectiveness of specific policies.