Willingness of farmers to use treated wastewater for irrigation in the West Bank, Palestine
Maher Mousa Hamdan, Ahmad M. Abu-Awwad, Maher Abu-Madi
Abstract
Limited water resources are among the main obstacles to development in Palestine. This research investigates farmers’ perceptions and willingness to use treated wastewater (TWW) for irrigation. Despite the availability of large quantities of TWW, just 11% of the interviewed farmers use it in irrigation. Just 24% of them confirmed that they had participated in awareness workshops related to TWW, but 75% stated they would be willing to use TWW for irrigation. We find that the main obstacles to the use of TWW in irrigation are availability of freshwater, non-availability of TWW and psychological aversion.
Topics & Concepts
IrrigationPalestineWastewaterWillingness to payWater resource managementWest bankBusinessAgricultural scienceEnvironmental scienceEnvironmental engineeringEconomicsEcologyBiologyHistoryMicroeconomicsAncient historyWastewater Treatment and ReuseWater resources management and optimizationWater-Energy-Food Nexus Studies