Press Release

OPEC Fund provides US$10.273 million loan to Jordan to improve agricultural resources management

78/2005 June 24, 2005, Putrajaya, Malaysia
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The OPEC Fund for International Development today signed a loan agreement worth US$10.273 million with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to raise productivity and incomes among 15,000 farming families in the Southern Highlands. Conceived as an integral part of the government’s agriculture sector reform program, the project will undertake a wide variety of activities to improve water and food security in the resource-poor Krak and Rafilia governorates and in selected districts of the Ma’an governorate.

Jordan is one of the world’s driest countries, with water scarcity a major inhibitor to growth and a serious threat to the agriculture sector. The situation is particularly critical in the Southern Highlands, where limited water resources combined with soil erosion and deforestation have brought about a sharp decrease in rural productivity. Other constraints include the small size of landholdings, limited use of inputs and low levels of agricultural technology. Unable to produce even the minimum requirements, many families are forced to seek other - often equally unreliable - sources of income. The project area, thus, has one of the highest concentrations of poverty in the country.

Using a community-oriented, participatory approach, the project will focus on a variety of resource management activities, including the introduction of measures for soil and water conservation, the development of water storage facilities, the protection of springs and the rehabilitation of irrigation systems. Agricultural development will be pursued through the planting of orchards and the provision of related extension and research services, and farmers will be encouraged to integrate crop and livestock production. To facilitate the purchase of the necessary inputs and equipment and support the development of other income-generating activities, micro-credit facilities will be made available. In addition, a rural roads component will ease access to markets and social services. The OPEC Fund loan will be used specifically to co-finance activities relating to soil conservation and road construction. An estimated 80,000 people, spread over an area of 6,540 km², stand to benefit from the eight-year project.

The OPEC Fund has previously extended seven loans to Jordan for projects in the agriculture, education, energy, health and industry sectors, as well as a number of grants for research and technical assistance activities.

Today’s agreement was signed in Putrajaya by H.E. Ms. Suhair Al-Ali, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and by H.E. Mr. Jamal Nasser Lootah, Chairman of the Governing Board of the OPEC Fund.