The Arab Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD) - Regional Office for the Arab Mashreq participated on the 23rd of July 2019, in a field tour that included the Arab Federation for Food Industries (ARABFFI), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA), the Jordanian Ministry of Agriculture and representatives of the local community from municipalities and public security, farmers and the women sector. The delegation assessed the experience of Al-Jawhara Association in the Southern Badia area in Jordan.

The delegation also assessed the regional initiative programs which were funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to promote small-scale renewable energy applications in the Arab region, that achieves the 7th sustainable development goal, which aims to promote gender equality and social integration and meet energy needs as renewable technologies that support the agricultural sector and reduce production costs.

The head of the Regional Office for the Arab Mashreq of AOAD presented a presentation on the role of AOAD in the field of agriculture, energy, water and entrepreneurship, in addition to its role in supporting innovation and creativity in the agricultural sector and its efforts in supporting and improving livelihoods in low-income rural areas and creating opportunities of income from the environment.

ARABFFI gave a briefing about the importance of its work and its various fields and stressed the constructive cooperation with AOAD in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier this year at AOAD’s headquarters in Khartoum to integrate work within the system of production and food value chain.

The field tour concluded the necessity of conducting a field survey for the plants, vegetables and fruits grown in the region, which can be utilized fresh or processed, in addition to training and qualifying the employees of the society in food safety in a safe and sound manner in accordance with the requirements of public safety and specifications and standards adopted internationally and training in packaging operations and assistance in opening markets for products and arranging visits to the regions of the region to exchange experiences in this field.