Initiative to assist some 5,000 food-insecure Jordanians

AMMAN — The UN World Food Programme is partnering with the Ministry of Agriculture to provide assistance to over 5,000 food-insecure and vulnerable Jordanians living in rural areas across the country, under an agreement signed Wednesday. 

“Through the $757,150 agreement, the ministry will be responsible for the implementation of Cash-For-Work and Cash-For-Training activities,” a WFP statement said. 

“Participants will receive cash in exchange for working or taking part in training to enhance agricultural development,” the organisation said. 

More than 1,000 Jordanians are expected to benefit directly from the four-month project along with the families they support. 

“The activities will mainly focus on rangeland and forestry development. Cash-For-Training activities will deploy beneficiaries in plant production and animal production stations,” the statement quoted Agriculture Ministry Akef Zu’bi as saying.  

The new cooperation is part of a long-term $24 million agreement between WFP and the government to assist Jordanians affected by the country’s economic crisis, which has been strained further by the influx of refugees from Syria. 

“People who aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from can earn cash to buy food and other necessities for their family,” said Maha Ahmed, country director for WFP in Jordan.

“At the same time, they’re learning how their animals and crops can be more productive, or they’re working to make natural resources like pastures and forests more sustainable,” the statement quoted her as saying. 

“This assistance will enable the host communities, who are mostly the poorest in Jordan, to continue to support the refugees and contribute to social cohesion between the two groups,” Ahmed added. 

WFP started its operations in Jordan in 1964. 

“Since then, the agency has initiated a wide range of development projects and emergency operations in the country in close collaboration with public institutions, corporate partners, NGOs and local communities,” the statement said.