Future Amman exhibition space to connect Badia’s people, produce to markets across Kingdom

AMMAN — The UNDP, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment, recently signed an agreement to establish the first-ever permanent exhibition in Amman to promote the products of the Jordan Badia and its adjacent rural areas. 

The exhibition will promote and sell products of Badia community-based organisations year-round, with the UNDP funding the project from its Badia Restoration Programme, according to a statement.

The products of 4,500 farmers will be marketed to an expected 1 to 1.5 million visitors, with an estimated annual revenue of JD 4.5 million.

The UNDP has implemented two projects that have “enhanced the livelihoods of livestock herders in the three Badia regions through value chain development on dairy products and scaling up sheep wool saleability and profitability”, as put by a separate Ministry of Agriculture statement.

The JD2.5 million project will build the exhibition hall over an area of 3,700 metres, with Minister of Agriculture Ibraheem Shahahdeh stating that it will “transform rural families from consumers into producers by providing rural women and their communities with the tools to exhibit their products and market them”.

He noted that the exhibition will also include a training centre on its grounds to provide beneficiaries with vital skills in production, sales and marketing. 

“This will create direct and indirect job opportunities and will be used for all national festivals such as the olive, pomegranate, guava and other marketing festivals,” added the minister.

UNDP Resident Representative Sara Ferrer Olivella said that her organisation is “aware of the challenges that might face this initiative, and we will invest a lot of time and effort to ensure that the quality, presentation and packaging of the goods in the exhibition are more than adequate”.

“We are confident that the establishment of a permanent exhibition in Amman to promote this socio-economic segment and exhibit the local products of the Jordan Badia and rural areas will not only contribute to raising the economic value of natural resources, but also connect the Badia with the rest of Jordan,” she added.

The UNDP representative further stated that the project is “among the organisation’s top priorities given its potential to tackle unemployment and reduce poverty, which are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda and plans of the government of Jordan”.

Minister of Environment Saleh Kharabsheh noted the joint endeavour falls under the framework of the ministry’s strategy to support, develop and advance the economic and social standing of rural families.

The conceptual design of the project proposes into transform the land to a green public space divided into an indoor exhibition hall and several shaded outdoor spaces.

The indoor area will contain a large open exhibition space, two training rooms, a productive kitchen, a book shop, a cafe and a restaurant. Outdoor spaces will be used for more dynamic and alternating functions, according to sketches made available to The Jordan Times.