Agriculture Ministry to revisit decision to reduce farmhands after protest

AMMAN — The Ministry of Agriculture on Monday formed a committee to reconsider a recent decision to reduce the number of non-Jordanian farm workers following objections by Mafraq farmers.

The new regulations stipulate that one foreign worker can be employed per 50 dunums of agricultural land instead of 20 dunums, according to officials and farmers’ representatives.

The regulations sparked the ire of Mafraq farmers, who protested in front of the Agriculture Ministry premises on Monday, demanding that the rules be reconsidered. 

Agriculture Minister Akef Zu’bi met with the farmers and issued instructions for the formation of a committee to revisit the regulations, ministry officials and farmers’ representatives said.

Agriculture Ministry Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin said the new regulations aim at organising the workforce in the sector.

“The farmers feel that the new regulations are unjust, but in fact they were issued to regulate foreign workers’ presence in the agricultural sector. Authorities have recorded several cases of selling foreign workers... it’s starting to become a foreign workers’ black market,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

Mafraq Farmers’ Union President Odeh Srour said the new regulations will harm the agriculture sector in Mafraq, which provides the country with 75 per cent of its summer fruits and vegetables.

“The agriculture sector has always relied on Egyptian labourers, but ever since the Ministry of Labour placed constraints on their presence in the country without permits, their numbers drastically dropped,” Srour told The Jordan Times.

Noting that not enough Jordanians work on farms, he said Mafraq farmers are resorting to Syrian labourers to compensate for the shortage.

“Now, while the new regulations aim at organising the labour market in the agriculture sector, they will add further pressure on farmers. We call on the ministry to cancel the new regulations or reach a settlement with farmers,” Srour noted.

In Mafraq, some 80km northeast of the capital, 25,000 dunums of land are planted with tomatoes and are expected to provide the local market with 200,000 tonnes during summer, while cucumbers are cultivated in 600 greenhouses, with each expected to provide 10 tonnes.