Amidst programs designed to position Jordan at the heart of the Middle East’s communications and technology boom and attract ICT developers and investors to the country, Amman is proposing an overhaul to its small but vital agricultural sector.
However, Jordan’s plan isn’t so much to work harder in the fields but to work smarter, identifying investment, development and export opportunities and providing training and technical support to primary producers so they can take advantage of these opportunities.
On January 31, King Abdullah said that plans drawn up by the ministry of agriculture four years ago had to be acted on to revitalize what he described as a basic pillar of the economic, social and environmental development process of the country.
However, while Jordan’s agriculture sector may be a pillar of the economy, it is a somewhat shaky column, seeing a 9.4% contraction in the past decade.
Less than 5% of the country is suitable for agriculture and even this is restricted due to limited rainfall. Of the Kingdom’s total area of 8.9 million hectares, only 270,000 hectares are currently under cultivation, with just 65,000 hectares being irrigated, mostly in the more fertile Jordan Valley, which accounts for approximately 60% of the country’s agricultural output.
Mainly small-scale production
For the most part, Jordan’s agricultural sector is made up of small-scale production. Most estimates put the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP at around 3%, though it accounts for up to a quarter of all employment, with many in the rural communities living at or below the poverty line.
However, Jordanian experts say this need not be the case, pointing to neighboring Israel. While both countries produce 2 million tons of fruits and vegetables annually, value of Israeli products is estimated at $2 billion while that of Jordan’s produce is $500 million.
Speaking at a meeting with representatives of the agriculture sector, King Abdullah said it was essential to develop a vision on how to prioritize investments to address the problems of poverty and unemployment, enhance the living standards of residents and educate and encourage farmers to grow crops that could be marketed abroad.
It was also important to educate small farmers on how to boost their capabilities and ensure their participation in the development process to render it a success, he said.
On the same day as the King’s address, a report was released outlining both the challenges to the agriculture sector and proposed remedies.
The country’s chronic water shortage, farmers’ limited knowledge and skills and inadequate regulation of the sector were highlighted. Suggested solutions included ramping up educational programs for farmers, encouraging a diversity of crops and institutionalizing the private sector’s role in the decision-making process.
The most positive aspect of the report was its claim that Jordan was well placed to penetrate markets in the Gulf and neighboring countries.
A second report, released late in January, backed up the calls for Jordan to build on its export potential, warning that the country’s growing trade deficit was a matter of concern.
The report, entitled The Jordanian Economy into the Third Millennium, said that while overall exports had risen on average by 19.4% a year, imports had increased by an average of 28% annually.
The Jordanian agricultural sector does enjoy some advantages, including a liberalized trade regime with the EU, which covers some 75% of all exports, with plans to raise this to 99.4%. Similar deals facilitate exports of crops to neighboring Israel.
One project that is already in operation is reclaiming unproductive land, and finding what crops can be grown there. Under the program launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, land owners have been given support to plant previously unfarmed hilly plots with olive trees, with the end result of the long-term project, initiated a decade ago, now bearing fruit. Formally a net importer of olive oil, Jordan now has a surplus for export.
