AMMAN -- For guidance and advice in the preparation of the National Food Security Strategy, the UNDP has reviewed its content, vision and objectives with major stakeholders.
Government officials, as well as representatives of international and local organisations, participated in a brainstorming session last Wednesday -- co-organised by the UNDP, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ministry of Agriculture -- during which many ideas related to the strategy were discussed.
Covering the 2014-2019 period, the strategy is expected to be completed and officially launched by the end of this year.
UNDP Programme Manager Majida Assaf, who inaugurated the workshop, stressed the importance of achieving food security, which "is an urgent matter that lies at the very heart of a nation's existence".
She added that with the nonstop influx of refugees to resource-limited Jordan, putting a food security strategy in place has become a top priority, calling on local experts and all concerned public and private institutions to collaborate effectively for this goal.
UNDP Deputy Director Philip Serge said meetings with stakeholders over the strategy began in September with the aim of reviewing the blueprint.
Fouad Mheisen, assistant to the agriculture ministry's secretary general, said the major reason for the strategy is the food problem, which has recently grown to alarming proportions worldwide.
He added that the unprecedented hikes in international food prices, coupled with the use of food for energy purposes, such as corn, have contributed to the emergence of a food problem all over the world that requires intensified efforts locally, regionally and internationally.
According to the UNDP and the WFP, the purpose of the strategy is to facilitate greater food access for all Jordanians and displaced persons that fall under the responsibility of the Kingdom.
Jordan is a country known regionally for its generosity in social welfare programmes as well as efforts to meet the needs of people seeking refuge within its borders; thus, the strategy envisions a food-secure future for all Jordanians and those temporarily seeking refuge within its borders, according to the UNDP and the WFP.
The strategy will also seek to increase the amount of available food through enhancing domestic agricultural production and marketing, ensuring household access to affordable and diverse food items on a regular basis and establishing coordinated and cross-sector food monitoring systems.
Jordan was among 38 countries worldwide that were able to halve the proportion of hungry people between 1990-92 and 2010-2012, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
FAO said that these countries have met internationally established targets in the fight against hunger, Millennium Development Goal number one, making successes ahead of a deadline set for 2015.
© Jordan Times 2013
