FAO Director-General meets Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh, takes part in water workshop

Amman - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today met Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh of Jordan as part of his two-day visit to Amman.

Qu noted that Jordan is a sizeable country and should play a decisive role in the region. He saluted the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II in addressing food security bottlenecks and said he was ready to implement the visions set out by His Majesty with regard to cooperation between FAO and Jordan. Qu had met His Majesty King Abdullah II at the Basman Palace on Tuesday.

During his meeting with the Prime Minister, the FAO Director-General called on Jordan to enhance its role in the region in harnessing science and technologies and provide data to address food insecurity, the climate crisis and water scarcity. Jordan should also support technological start-ups in the agricultural sector as a means of attracting younger generations to work in local food production.

The Prime Minister expressed Jordan’s commitment to making a contribution to food security in the region and called for FAO's technical assistance in tackling the challenge of rural unemployment. Al-Khasawneh also highlighted the need for Jordan to attract more investment to enhance its food storage capabilities and expressed appreciation for the strengthening of the FAO-Jordan partnership under Qu's leadership.

The two leaders also discussed issues related to the mandate of  FAO, including the key priority areas set out in the FAO Strategic Framework 2022-2031.

Workshop on water efficiency

Together with Jordan’s Minister of Agriculture, Qu also attended an inception workshop for the project “Building resilience to cope with climate change in Jordan through improving water use efficiency in the agriculture sector (BRCCJ)”. The event was held under the Prime Minister's patronage and brought together key stakeholders to mark the start of the seven-year project’s activities, which will increase the country’s resilience to climate change by ensuring the long-term sustainability of its water management systems. 

Project partners gathered to discuss the implementation of project activities – valued at USD 33.2 million – in four Governorates in the Dead Sea Basin – Karak, Madaba, Tafilah and Maan – which are particularly vulnerable to climate change and climate-induced water scarcity. 

The event also saw the participation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the main financier of the project, as well as partners and co-financiers, including representatives from Jordan’s Ministries of Environment, Agriculture , and Water and Irrigation; and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  

“Jordan is one of the most water-stressed countries in the region and in the world, made worse by climate change. This project is an important contribution to the country and the region’s climate action agenda. It will help the country address the complexity of the climate crisis,” Qu said.

Agricultural Research Center

Also on Wednesday the Director General visited the Jordanian National Agricultural Research Center, where geospatial mapping technologies are being piloted to help policy makers to better formulate water consumption policies in agriculture. Qu called for Jordan to participate in the FAO Hand-in-Hand Initiative and thereby use the Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Platform.