AMMAN: Implementation of a multi-million-dollar project to enhance food security and agricultural productivity across the Kingdom will commence in March, according to a senior government official.
According to details, the mega-project will train people from all governorates on vocational agricultural skills and “agribusiness management”, and then secure them with funds to start their own food and animal production projects, Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said.
“The national project seeks to improve food security and self-sufficiency in livestock and agricultural products, while securing people with a sustainable source of living,” Hneifat noted at a meeting with the press.
The project is worth JD14 million, he said, highlighting that it is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
Under the scheme, the Agriculture Ministry plans to train people across the Kingdom on vocational agricultural and agribusiness skills for two months before identifying in which agricultural or vocational field they seek to start their own businesses.
The project also entails providing funding for proposed business ideas, Hneifat said, noting that permanent markets will be established in each governorate to display the products of the small businesses which will be established under the mega scheme.
The ministry has already secured JD650,000 for the two-month training, he noted, adding that it is in the process of securing the funding of the project from the World Food Program.
Opening new markets and also retrieving lost ones for the country’s exports of fruits, vegetables and live sheep are also among the ministry’s top challenges.
The Kingdom’s agricultural sector is suffering due to regional conflicts and instability. Jordan has lost the Syrian and Iraqi markets, whether as major exporting destinations for animal and food products or as transit points for exports to Europe and the Gulf, Hneifat said.
The Karameh-Tureibil crossing on the border between Jordan and Iraq, the gateway for Jordanian produce to reach Iraqi and European markets, was closed in the summer of 2015.
