Committee formed to address challenges facing fruit, vegetable exporters, producers

AMMAN — The Board of Directors of the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) together with the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables (JEPA) formed a joint committee to follow up on the issues and challenges faced by fruit and vegetable producers and exporters.

The decision to form a joint committee came during a meeting between the two parties at ACC’s headquarters, which mainly focused on the most prominent problems and obstacles facing the farming sector, especially the decline in exports by more than half, according to an ACC statement made available to The Jordan Times.

The statement added that the meeting also shed light on the suggested mechanisms to overcome the sector’s challenges, in cooperation with all the concerned parties.

During the meeting, it has been agreed that the ACC would hold a colloquium that would bring together all stakeholders from the public and private sectors, to discuss the issues and challenges facing Jordan’s agricultural sector, gearing towards coming up with “a national plan that includes realistic solutions that would be mandatory for all”.

ACC President Khalil Hajj Tawfiq, in remarks to The Jordan Times on Saturday, said that “the Kingdom’s farming sector needs some regulation and sector specific monitoring”, adding that a comprehensive strategy that is based on “openness and transparency” should be utilised, to revive the agricultural sector.

An emergency meeting with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply would be held to acquaint her of what is really happening in the farming sector, the ACC president noted, adding that “supporting the farmer does not mean making things harder for merchants. They all work together”.

“We should work through those obstacles by finding optimal ways and solutions that do not rely on moodiness, but on transparency and inclusiveness in the process of decision making,” said Haj Tawfiq, noting that farmers need “true support”.

During the meeting, President of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables Saadi Abu Hammad said that the association includes all farmers, producers and exporters, denying reports that agricultural brokers are the ones who control the prices in central markets at the expense of farmers. 

Abu Hammad pointed out in the statement that the volume of Jordan’s agricultural exports fell from 970,000 tonnes during previous years to 420,000 tonnes at present.