Dutch ambassador visits hydroponics projects in Jordan Valley

AMMAN — Dutch Ambassador to Jordan Harry Verweij visited projects by the Hydroponics Agriculture and Employment Development (HAED-Jo) in the Jordan Valley. 

The project was launched in 2017 in the wake of the Syrian crisis and implemented by consulting firm ECO Consult, according to a Dutch embassy statement. 

Supporting Jordan in enhancing its food security and resilience is part of the development cooperation portfolio of the Embassy of the Netherlands in Amman, said the statement.

The project aims to enhance the agriculture sector through introducing innovations while creating jobs for Jordanians and Syrians across the value chain in different geographical locations of the country. 

The ambassador’s tour included two hydroponic farms run by Mohammad Abu Sido and Hisham Al Taji. Both entrepreneurs succeeded in adopting hydroponic farming through the project, harvesting high quality crops in addition to increasing production per unit area, the statement said.

Ra’ed Daoud, managing director at ECO Consult, briefed Verweij on the impact the project was able to achieve in Jordan. 

The project “succeeded in instigating farmers to shifting to sustainable agriculture by employing innovations at a time where climate change impact is more present than ever before”, read the statement. 

“Creating national expertise and institutionalising knowledge runs parallel to working with farmers as partnerships are forged with academia and the National Agricultural Research Centre (NARC) who in return become change agents of modern agricultural practices,” the statement said.

Since the inception of the project numerous partnerships were forged with community farmers who adopted different hydroponic systems. Results demonstrated how technologies are operated to increase quality and yield of produce while decreasing water consumption and agriculture inputs, the statement said.