The "Enhancing the Resilience of the Agricultural Sector, Value Chain Development, and Innovation" program, known as "Ardhi," funded by a $95.6 million loan from the World Bank, continues to make progress in strengthening the resilience of Jordan’s agricultural sector to climate change and improving the environment for agricultural value chain development.
اضافة اعلان
According to an evaluation report by the World Bank, since its launch, the program has achieved significant milestones, including training over 1,000 farmers on climate-smart agricultural practices and training and certifying 2,000 agricultural workers across various value chain fields.
Rainwater harvesting structures with a capacity exceeding 1.6 million cubic meters have been established, following new national guidelines developed under the program.
The number of farmers benefiting from agricultural assets or services reached 16,131, including 2,326 women, 4,491 youth, and 621 refugees. The rainwater harvesting capacity at the farm level reached 143,520 cubic meters.
Institutionally, a five-year plan for animal health services development was approved, a new financial resource management system was established in the Agricultural Cooperative Corporation, and accounting systems were updated in line with international standards.
Plans were also developed for agricultural waste management, enhancement of occupational health and safety programs, and integration of environmental and social requirements into grant agreements.
The program is funded through three main instruments: a $95.6 million World Bank loan, of which $49.92 million (52.22%) has been disbursed; funding from a Dutch-supported trust fund amounting to $5.5 million, fully disbursed; and additional financing of $23.9 million from the Global Program for Facilitating Concessional Finance, with $12.45 million (52.10%) disbursed.
The World Bank approved the program on September 29, 2022, and it became effective on November 10 of the same year. It is scheduled to continue until June 30, 2029.
By 2026, the program aims to increase the number of beneficiaries to more than 77,000 farmers, raise rainwater harvesting capacity to over 10 million cubic meters, expand agricultural export traceability systems to cover products worth $5 million, and train more than 12,000 individuals while maintaining set proportions of women, youth, and refugees.
The program also seeks to introduce digital agricultural advisory tools, expand the use of water-saving technologies, enhance private sector participation in veterinary services, and achieve an 80% satisfaction rate among beneficiaries regarding service quality.
Despite the progress, some aspects are advancing more slowly, including integrating agricultural product tracking systems, using an electronic procurement system, activating community grievance mechanisms, and developing action plans related to child labor. Additionally, field implementation of some indicators in the Badia regions has yet to show tangible progress.
Proposed Additional $179 Million Funding
The World Bank is considering providing additional financing of $179 million to support the "Agricultural Resilience, Value Chain Development, and Innovation - Ardhi" program to enhance agricultural resilience and expand innovation and value chains.
The total program cost after adding the new funding would reach approximately $346.5 million, distributed as follows: $185.6 million from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), $106 million government funding, grants from trust funds including $43.9 million from the Concessional Finance Facility and $9 million from the Forced Displacement Fund, plus $2 million in commercial financing.
The additional funding primarily aims to improve rainwater harvesting planning through the national committee by using prior impact assessment results recommending continuation of mapping work, enhancing governance and coordination, reviewing tender documents, and employing digital technologies to expand climate-smart advisory and training.
The second component focuses on enhancing the competitiveness of the agricultural food sector and improving the enabling environment for farmers and the private sector by reducing investment risks in value chains.
This includes expanding the use of digital technologies for accessing marketing and export promotion services in rural and urban areas, broadening virtual training programs to develop skills and employment opportunities—especially for women and refugees—reviewing agricultural labor law enforcement, improving the regulatory environment, and strengthening cooperative associations, particularly farmers' associations, to increase their participation in value chains.
—(Al-Mamlaka)
