FAO and Ministry of Agriculture launch a project to boost the efficiency of the decentralized agricultural departments in Jordan

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) launched today the “Enhancement of the efficient response of the decentralized agricultural departments in Jordan” project to boost the quality of the service provision as a part of the quality management of the agricultural sector in Jordan and improve the efficient response and service provision of the agricultural departments.

In line with the agreement signed by the parties, FAO conducted an inception workshop to acquaint stakeholders and project partners with the scope and outlines of the project, in addition to covering the implementation strategy and work plan.

The workshop was held under the patronage of the Minister of Agriculture in Jordan, Eng. Khaled Hnaifat, in the presence of representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and a group of selected stakeholders and government partners.

The Minister of Agriculture Eng. Khalid Hnaifat stressed that “achieving the implementation of projects and activities that serve the agricultural sector requires a business environment that is commensurate with the ambition to develop the agricultural sector and serve farmers at the level we aspire to, and in conjunction with the rapid development in public life. All of this requires the development of services that Provided by agricultural centers in the field, through updating the tools used by the service provider in agricultural departments in various regions.”

This project aims at strengthening the infrastructure of service provision to the service recipients in the decentralized agricultural departments and ensure customer satisfaction, where a comprehensive capacity building program will be conducted to the veterinaries, paravets, extensionists, agricultural engineers and staff of MOA departments who deal directly with farmers and service recipients, this will result in high qualified personnel who could contribute to the development of the agricultural sector and will lead to a better service provision.

Furthermore, the customer satisfaction tools will be used to evaluate the quality and the timeliness of service provision, it will be an effective method for decision makers to enhance the quality of the services and to tap on the areas of weakness.

FAO Representative in Jordan, Eng. Nabil Assaf, said, “The project is fully aligned with the Ministry of Agriculture's directions to improve service delivery levels. It will also enhance the Ministry of Agriculture's capacity to effectively respond to the needs of service recipients by implementing a comprehensive capacity building program for public-facing employees and strengthening the infrastructure that will help them deliver the service to the fullest extent.” He added, “The project will also provide the Ministry of Agriculture with the necessary tools to receive feedback from service recipients to ensure continuous improvement of services based on the data received from service recipients.”

This project is fully funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization, and activities will conclude in October 2025. The project will be implemented in a selected decentralized departments of agriculture in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.