Amman, Sept. 29 (Petra) – The National Agricultural Research Center (NARC) on Monday inaugurated the conference “Sustainable Agriculture Towards Integrated Food Security through Climate-Smart Practices.”

NARC Director-General Ibrahim Rwashdeh said the event marks a key step in realizing Jordan’s national vision for food security and strengthening the agricultural sector’s resilience to climate change. He urged collective local and international efforts to mitigate climate and environmental challenges by making better use of farmland and applying climate-smart practices to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainable development.

The conference highlighted results of the project “20 Dunums for Change Towards Climate-Smart Agriculture,” implemented by the Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation in partnership with NARC, the Jordan River Foundation, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Venture X, with support from the French Development Agency.

The project achieved notable progress in empowering small-scale farmers, particularly in tomato, cucumber, thyme and olive production, focusing on Mafraq and Irbid governorates. It helped build the capacities of 655 farmers 279 in Irbid and 376 in Mafraq enabling 439 men and 216 women to adopt modern techniques that enhance sustainable agricultural production and efficiency.

Helvetas Regional Director Wala Al-Maaytah praised the National Agricultural Research Center’s pioneering role in strengthening the capacities of small farmers through the “20 Dunums for Change” initiative.

//Petra// AF
29/09/2025 21:24:37