Amman, Jan. 15 (Petra) -- Minister of Agriculture Saeb Khraisat on Thursday received a delegation from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to discuss FAO’s Hand-in-Hand Initiative.

The initiative aims to remove obstacles to transforming agrifood systems by enabling governments, development partners, international financial institutions, and investors to steer agricultural and food investments and policies using scientific, data-based foundations.

The delegation, which included FAO Representative in Amman Nabil Assaf, Policy Officer at FAO’s Near East and North Africa Office Mohamed Ahmad, and FAO Rome Headquarters Program Officer Dubravka Bojic, also reviewed FAO efforts in several countries in the region to roll out the initiative and mobilize support and participation.

Khraisat stressed the importance of the proposed initiative, the need to build on existing partnerships with international organizations, and the importance of intensifying efforts to direct investments toward national priorities. He also emphasized strengthening reliance on data and information in planning and agricultural policymaking.

He affirmed the Ministry of Agriculture’s leading role in supporting agricultural investment and identifying sector opportunities, alongside the role of relevant state institutions, including the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply, the Ministry of Investment, and the Department of Statistics.

The meeting included an expanded discussion on implementation mechanisms, the efforts required for success, and the best ways to connect and coordinate among relevant institutions to produce an integrated agricultural investment roadmap. The roadmap is to be presented at the Hand-in-Hand Initiative Investment Forum scheduled to be held in Rome in October this year, with a view to presenting it to donors, investors, and the international private sector.

The approach aims to highlight investment opportunities in Jordan’s agricultural sector, with a focus on high-value commodities and identifying the most suitable geographic areas for agricultural investment, helping strengthen Jordan’s position as a destination for global agricultural investment.

The meeting concluded with an emphasis on intensifying consultations during the FAO mission’s stay in Amman to prepare the required plan and produce a clear vision and roadmap that assigns defined roles to all partners involved in developing the targeted agricultural investment map.

//Petra// AO

15/01/2026 16:59:49