Jordan has entered into a deal with the Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO of the United Nations to help rural families, according to official sources.
The FAO and Jordan’s National Center for Agricultural Research or NARC on Saturday, October 23, signed a cooperation agreement in this regard, said the sources.
As part of the agreement, they are expected to organize festivals for Jordan’s agricultural products with the aim of empowering rural families and farmers.
The agreement also reportedly offers training to farmers, engineers, and rural women on how to best handle product marketing management to access the highest marketing outlets to come up with a pioneering product and a leading sales quantity.
The agreement is said to also include the organizing of the National Olive Festival, a Rural Products Exhibition, a Pomegranate Festival in Irbid, and the Southern Ghor Festival for agricultural products.
Signing the agreement, FAO representative in Jordan, Nabil Assaf, said it aimed to assist Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture and NARC in empowering rural families and farmers.
As part of the agreement, they are expected to get access to marketing outlets for their rural and agricultural products, especially olives and olive oil.
NARC’s Director-General Nizar Haddad was quoted by the official sources as saying that the successes on the national festivals were dependent on the concerted efforts of national institutions in the private and public sectors, and the support of international and local partners, especially the FAO.
Haddad also pointed to the Ministry of Agriculture’s role in promoting local products by regulating and preventing import operations in light of self-sufficiency, as well as organizing festivals — primarily the National Olive Festival — as a key marketing opportunity for local olive oil.
These festivals open an opportunity for citizens looking for high-quality local products, he said.