Drylands cover 48% of the earth's surface and are particularly vulnerable to climate change (F. Haddad & Herrera, 2022). Rangelands are among the drylands' most productive ecosystems covering vast areas with native vegetation, predominantly grasses, and shrubs that have the potential to be grazed and serve as a habitat for wildlife and livestock (V. G. Allen et al., 2011). A large extent of Middle East arid rangelands is degraded due to overgrazing, intensive cultivation, collection of fuelwoods, exploitation of herbal and medicinal plants, quarrying activities (Abu-Zanat et al., 2020) as well as climate change (Godde et al., 2020). However, rangelands still provide a wide range of goods and services, including livestock fodder (FAO, 2017), eventually supporting the livelihood of millions of people (Lee et al., 2021). Sustainable management solutions that increase and stabilize the rural dryland communities' food production and their resilience to shocks are therefore crucial.

Jordan is a net food-importer country, importing staple food valued at 947 million US$. The main exported agricultural product is livestock for a value of 157 million US$ versus 213 million US$ of barley imported (WTO, 2019), mostly used as livestock feed. Only 11% of the total land area is cultivated (World Bank, 2020); out of that, less than 1% is equipped with irrigation systems (AQUASTAT, 2019). More than 90% of Jordan's territory is classified arid and receives less than 200 mm of average annual rainfall (Figure 1), forming a dry rangeland environment called “Badia” (FAO, 2008; Tamura et al., 2021). The Badia ecosystem expands from north to south along the country's eastern border (Nawash et al., 2013).