JEDCO offers $827k in grants to support agriculture projects

AMMAN — The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) is implementing 249 grant agreements through the Rural Finance Development and Employment Programme, which is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). 

The Jordan River Foundation is working with JEDCO to implement development and support activities among saving and credit groups and associations, as well as technical support and business mentoring for small projects, according to a JEDCO statement. 

JEDCO CEO Bashar Al Zoubi commented that 171 of the agreements involved group grants and 78 were individual grants aiming to support productive agricultural projects in Balqa, Ajloun, Jerash, Mafraq and Madaba governorates, at a total value of $827,800, with group grants valued at $4,500 and individual grants at $1,500.

The submitted proposals involve entrepreneurial ideas for agricultural production projects, creating new job opportunities for youth and women while contributing to improving the standards of living in the targetted governorates, according to the statement.

Zoubi said that the grants will be transferred to the beneficiaries through e-wallet applications at a preferential cost of 65 per cent less than the ordinary cost. The amounts have been transferred to small farmers in Jerash and Ajloun governorates, and JEDCO will complete the transfer procedures for the remaining beneficiaries in the other governorates over the coming days. 

During the past year, 150 grants have been signed to support and develop the value chain for productive agriculture, with $381,000 distributed to targetted governorates, leading to the creation of 646 jobs, the CEO said in the statement.

The Rural Economic Growth and Employment Project (REGEP) aims to develop agricultural projects to integrate small-scale farmers in value chains and improve their opportunities to acquire the needed funding in rural areas. It also works to enhance small farmers’ capacity-building and competitiveness and their contributions to selected value chains in rural areas, the statement concluded.