Any future for agriculture?

In view of the continued decline of Jordan’s agricultural sector, despite its economic and strategic importance, His Majesty the King called six years ago for 2009 to be the year of agriculture.

The purpose was to draw the attention of the government to this fading sector.

He hoped to halt the decline and bring back agriculture to the prominent position it deserves in the world of today.

Four factors decide the future of agriculture and its importance in any country. They are land, water, labour and capital.

Sadly, Jordan is short in all these, which indicates that agriculture in Jordan has no future.

Arable land in Jordan, which used to make up some 12 per cent of the country’s total area, dropped now to less than one-third. 

The rapid expansion of towns meant that land was converted from a production factor to a commodity traded in the active real estate market.

Water is obviously in short supply; Jordan is the fourth poorest country in the world in water resources relative to population.

Agriculture’s share of available water is shrinking year after year, as population needs and industry have priority over scarce water.

Jordanian labourers willing to work in agriculture are hard to final. With the spread of education, the new generation shuns jobs in the agricultural sector and leaves them to guest workers, mainly Egyptians and, lately, Syrians.

Wages are transferred abroad. They do not make a contribution to the national economy.

The capital available for agriculture is very limited. Farmers have to depend on financing from either the Agricultural Lending Corporation or brokers.

A typical farmer is unable to buy the proper agricultural equipment, let alone adopt modern technology that can double output and improve quality.

In order for the agricultural sector to prosper, efforts should be made to improve the above-mentioned four factors. It is not enough to support agriculture with nice words.

Agriculture received more than enough lip service from officials and the media, and that did not change anything on the ground.

The Ministry of Agriculture believes that the future of this sector depends on its share of the budget appropriation.

It called at one time for doubling its budget.

The Ministry of Finance responded by reclassifying all expenditures on projects related to agriculture as part of the Ministry of Agriculture budget.

Total government expenditure on agriculture-related projects is from the Ministry of Agriculture’s own budget, so that the total public expenditure on agriculture-related projects appears as a contribution to enhancing agriculture.

In this respect, one has to emphasise the fact that spending on agriculture is something and spending on the Ministry of Agriculture is something else.

It is not feasible for the government to spend almost equal amounts on agriculture and the value added in this sector, as its meagre contribution to the gross domestic product does not exceed 2.5 per cent of GDP.