AMMAN — The 2023 general budget draft law specified
new expenditures for capital projects for the Ministry of Agriculture, to the
tune of JD6.1 million, the largest of which will be setting up an agricultural
industries complex at a value of JD2.25 million, according to Al-Mamlaka TV.
The fund will
help implement the agro-food industries complex agreement signed by the
Ministry of Agriculture on October, according to which three agricultural
projects will be established in the southern Jordan Valley: a tomato paste
factory, a vegetable dehydration factory, and a frozen vegetable factory, for a
total investment of JD5 million.
According to the
agreement, the ministry will endeavor to provide land, finance the construction
of infrastructure, including of hangars and warehouses, and secure water and
electricity services. In return, the investor will install machines, equipment
and production lines, operate them and use local production inputs, whether
from the Jordan Valley or any of the Kingdom’s governorates, and 75 percent of
workers will be Jordanians.
An additional
JD22.9 million has been set aside in the budget for Agriculture Ministry capital
projects that are new, ongoing, or under implementation.
New projects
also include establishing an antibiotic residue laboratory, at a value of
JD250,000, financing the cocoon planting technology, at a value of JD200,000,
mechanizing agricultural stations, at a value of JD500,000, and developing the
infrastructure for plant wealth laboratories, at a value of JD450,000.
New expenditures
will also go toward land reclamation, worth JD100,000, reducing the impact of
climate change on the agricultural sector, at a value of JD 75,000, research on
developing local breeds of bees, Awassi sheep and perennial olives, at a value
of JD75,000, upgrading agriculture, at a value of JD600,000, and developing
smart solutions for agriculture, worth JD50,000.
Striving for food
security
The 2023 general budget draft law has also allocated JD500,000 for the
Ministry of Agriculture to support the establishment of the Higher Council for Food Security, which will be implemented over several years, with the aim of
managing food supply crises.
Last July, the
Council of Ministers agreed with the justifications for the food security
council regulation draft law, which sought, to reduce the Kingdom’s
vulnerability to international food crises and climate change.
The Higher
Council for Food Security is to be partially funded through a $130 million loan
from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in favor of the
Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply. The bank is scheduled to be approve
the loan in March 2023; the project will be implemented over several years.
On August 29,
Jordan launched the National Strategy for Food Security 2021–2030 and its
implementation plan for the years 2022–2024; this first food security strategy
in the Kingdom, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, comes in
implementation of Royal directives to make Jordan a regional center for food
security.
The Economic
Modernization Vision had proposed the establishment of a body specialized in
food security, as well as a national center for food security research, as part
of initiatives related to agriculture and food security.
The vision
presented the strategic capabilities and priorities of the agricultural sector,
including: transforming Jordan into a regional center for agricultural
production while ensuring the sustainability of food security to meet local
current and future needs, using the latest agricultural technologies and smart
solutions to renew agricultural production methods, and to make the Kingdom a
regional center for exporting agricultural produce.
Other expenditures go
toward organizing the agricultural, worth JD950,000, establishing a tracking
system for plant and animal agricultural products, at a value of JD50,000, and
training Jordanian youth and girls in professions pertaining to agriculture, at
a cost of JD50,000.
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