The role of water and land management practices in promoting current development in the Wadi Faynan area, located in southern Jordan, forms the focus of this chapter. The area represents one of the most arid landscapes in Jordan and, until recently, was primarily used by semi-nomadic Bedouin tribes for winter grazing. Since 1921, the Government of Jordan has encouraged settlement and this transition has led to considerable changes in the day-to-day lives of the Bedouin, including the recent development of irrigated agriculture making use of shallow groundwater sources. The account considers the physical and social contexts of Wadi Faynan before turning to the cooperative model being used in the area to promote this irrigated agricultural activity. The characteristics of the irrigated agricultural system being used to produce tomatoes and watermelons are then outlined and reviewed, including recourse to specific farmer-based case studies. In conclusion, the impacts of the cooperative-led irrigated agricultural activity on reducing poverty in the areas are assessed, along with the need for wider imperatives at the sub-regional scale of southern Jordan, as a part of decentralisation from the national core centred on Greater Amman.