Agriculture minister, IOFS director discuss food security cooperation

AMMAN — Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat on Sunday met with Director-General of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS) Berik Aryn, Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Jordan Talghat Shaldanbay and Director of the Humanitarian Programmes and Projects Unit at IOFC Emre Yuksel.

During the meeting, Hneifat stressed the "deep-rooted" relations between the two countries and expressed appreciation for the IOFS's interest in joint efforts to develop the agricultural sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.  

He highlighted the challenges and difficulties facing agriculture, underscoring the ministry's role in partnering with various stakeholders to overcome these challenges and mitigate their impact to foster development, enhance agricultural supply chains, promote agricultural production among IOFS member states, and boost trade and private sector networking within Islamic countries. 

The minister noted that this year would witness significant advancements in the sector, focusing on food industries and joint projects with international organisations.

Hneifat reviewed the ministry's future plans to enhance food security, leveraging the regional food security observatory to implement training programmes, operational initiatives and collaborative projects under the National Sustainable Agriculture Plan (2022–2025) and the Strategic Food Security Plan (2021–2023). 

He underscored the ministry's commitment, through partnerships with international and regional entities, to supporting small-scale farmers, promote agricultural alliances and achieve food security across various stages of agricultural production.

The minister said that this support contributes to reducing unemployment through direct and indirect jobs, creating income sources for rural families, alleviating poverty and fostering productivity through training, funding and empowerment. 

Aryn expressed the IOFS’s readiness to implement projects in Jordan, focusing on wheat, olives, dates, honey and water management for agricultural initiatives.

He also highlighted upcoming training programmes aimed at serving the agricultural sector.