AMMAN — Jordan is in the process of establishing a
regional observatory for food security, and a center specialized in relief
operations and emergency food aid in the region, Minister of Agriculture Khaled
Al-Hneifat said.
اضافة اعلان
“There will also
be cooperation between several countries regarding the increase of trade
exchange and the flow of agricultural commodities,” he said, stressing that the
regional observatory is an institution affiliated with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization “that conducts a
predictive study of issues related to food security in the region”.
The minister
spoke following the conclusion of a two-day quadripartite meeting this week of
Jordanian, Iraqi, Syrian, and Lebanese ministers of agriculture, which explored
strengthening cooperation in the field of agriculture, facilitating the flow of
agricultural goods, finding possible solutions to food crises, and enhancing
working with international organizations to support and develop agricultural
production.
Hneifat said
that the observatory “will monitor local and regional challenges, and in
addition, there will also be a training center for this observatory in Asia, in
order to provide effective solutions to food security”.
The
quadripartite meeting dealt with the possibility of raising the level of food
security for these countries through food integration and unified measures to
face the challenges of the constant water shortage, the spread of epidemics and
the threat of desert locusts, in addition to encouraging investment and trade
exchange.
But despite the
proposed radical solutions that the Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to
implement in cooperation with various parties, farmers face serious challenges,
foremost is the heavy dependence on imported strategic materials, including
wheat, and the scarcity of water resources.
President of the General Union of Jordanian Farmers
Odeh Al-Rawashdah told
Jordan News that another quadripartite meeting
will be held in Syria. But he stressed that there should have been an
invitation for all Arab agriculture ministers to discuss the obstacles the
sector faces.
Head of Traders
and Producers of Agricultural Materials Syndicate Mohammad Loay Bibars told
Jordan
News that “these four countries have common historical and geographic
denominators as they face the food security crisis.”
He stressed that
before the Syrian crisis, Jordan had doubled its exports due to the ease of
passage of goods across the border.
Will monitor local and regional challenges, and in addition, there will also be a training center for this observatory in Asia, in order to provide effective solutions to food security
He said that
achieving food security is a major challenge for the entire region, “which
means that an abundance of strategic crops needs large agricultural areas and
large quantities of water”.
He reiterated
that “we cannot talk about food security without achieving water security.”
“Before the
Syrian crisis, Jordan used to import grain and get good quantities of water
from the Syrian side, and there was ease in the flow of goods on the borders,”
he said.
He also
suggested that the region “go to hydroponics”, and gain experience, “since we
lack knowledge in this field”, because using it for growing crops necessitates
little water and “reduces the use of large agricultural areas”.
He urged the
government to take serious measures to encourage wheat cultivation with a view
to achieving self-sufficiency in this strategic crop.
Head of the
Jordan Farmers Association Ibrahim Al-Sharif said that “we welcome any step
toward solving the problems of the agricultural sector, especially since we
rely on marketing with neighboring countries, and the agricultural exchange may
contribute to increasing productivity.”
He told
Jordan
News that Jordan should produce much more wheat than it is producing now,
adding that “we must import good types of wheat, and work to provide reasonable
amounts of irrigation water”.
He noted that
farmers are aware of the need to move from growing vegetables to cultivating
strategic crops, but they “do not receive sufficient support from the
government” for such a switch.
Due to the fragmentation of ownership and to the decline in the quality of wheat seeds, which led to a decline in profits.
For instance,
Jordanians produce huge quantities of tomatoes, of which large amounts are
destroyed, he said, stressing the need for introducing food processing.
Wheat grower
Salman Al-Oran told
Jordan News that “the most prominent challenges
farmers face are climate change and the lack of rainfall.”
He said that
farmers refrain from growing wheat “due to the fragmentation of ownership and
to the decline in the quality of wheat seeds, which led to a decline in
profits.”
Director-General
of the Jordan Farmers’ Union Mahmoud Al-Oran wondered why the water issue
between Jordan and Syria was not discussed at the meeting.
He said that
“wheat cultivation faced many problems in the last decade, most notably the
lack of wheat seeds that suit the current agricultural environment and the
water shortage.”
According to
Oran, in Jordan there are about 3,000,000 dunums suitable for cultivation,
depending on irrigation.
“If we plant one
third of these areas with wheat, we can produce at least 700,000 tons of wheat
annually, and this covers approximately 70 percent of our annual needs, which
are equivalent to one million tonnes,” he explained.
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