Mercy Corps and the Kingdom of the Netherlands launch Jordan HortiFuture’s Signing Ceremony at the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC)

Malfnews

Under the patronage of the Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Eng. Khaled Huneifat, and H.E. Mr. Harry Verweij, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jordan HortiFuture Project conducted a Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) signing ceremony at the National Agricultural Research Center between Mercy Corps and the arms of the Ministry of Agriculture (Research, Credit and Cooperative). The 3 years project will be funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and implemented by Mercy Corps in collaboration with Advance Consulting and Wageningen University & Research (WUR).

In his speech, His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Eng. Khaled Al-Hanaifat, expressed his pride in the networking and cooperation between the three arms of the Ministry that specialize in Research, Credit and Cooperatives in order to advance the agricultural sector and promote sustainable development and support smallholder farmers by adopting sustainable pilot projects, through good agricultural practices and the introduction of modern technologies.

H.E. Mr. Harry Verweij, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands stated in his speech, “The HortiFuture project was designed in partnership with the government, the private sector, knowledge institutions, and civil society, as we, the Netherlands, believe that true development can only be achieved with input from all four stakeholders. This project will focus mainly on addressing the root causes and challenges of Jordanian smallholder farmers but will also contribute to the agricultural sector as a whole.”

The Director-General of the National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), Dr. Nizar Haddad, indicated in his speech that “these projects will be based on research studies from experts through consumer demand in the market and the creation of high value products that will reduce marketing challenges, in addition to integrating innovation and creativity in the agricultural sector and employing an agricultural innovation incubator to reduce challenges facing the agricultural sector, especially production, climate change, marketing and water, through the use of modern technology to increase quality and added value to the product to enhance food security and achieve agricultural sustainability.”

In turn, the Director General of Agricultural Credit Association (ACC), Eng. Muhammad Al-Dogan, clarified that the basis for financing agricultural projects will be in partnership with the National Agricultural Research Center by studying the economic feasibility of the project and the desired benefit from it, in addition to studying the challenges facing the agricultural sector.

For his part, the Director General of the Jordan Cooperative Corporation (JCC), Abdel Fattah Al-Shalabi, noted that the Corporation’s role will be within the framework of developing and strengthening the capabilities of agricultural cooperatives that pilot projects and introducing them to good agricultural practices in the governorates through studying the development of curricula and practical plans to implement a set of development activities and ensure the success of agricultural projects by conducting training courses and benefiting from the experiences of the National Agricultural Research Center in the agricultural and research fields and their lead role in attracting agricultural investments.

In his speech, Mercy Corps Country Director, Mr. Darius Radcliffe, said, “Jordan HortiFuture aims to increase the productivity and quality of smallholder farm horticulture activities by helping farmers integrate best practices for cultivation and post-harvest, introducing small farm-appropriate technologies in the form of asset transfers, and providing training on Good Agricultural Practices”.