Princess Basma Bint Ali sponsors the inauguration of the Conference of the Agricultural Technology Faculty at Al-Ahliyya Amman University on Food Security

Her Highness Princess Basma Bint Ali, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hashemite Fund for Development of Jordan Badia and President of the Royal Botanical Garden, sponsored the launch of Al-Ahliyya Amman University Conference on "Food Security in Jordan, Reality and Future Vision" on Thursday 1/12/2022. The Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Prof. Rida Al-Khawaldeh stated that the sponsorship of Her Highness Princess Basma Bint Ali of this conference confirms that God has bestowed us a wise Hashemite leadership, whereby Jordanians share their livelihood with all in need and everyone who chose the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to live in, a safe and sound environment. Prof. Al-Khawaldeh added that food security is one of the two infrastructure and essential securities on which the definition of safety in societies is built upon, where is a developing country like Jordan suffers from various environmental and economic challenges such as shortage of water, climate changes and high cost of freight, where the food security crisis is evident, as 3 percent of Jordanian families suffer from food insecurity. According to the Global Hunger Index, the prevalence of undernourishment in Jordan during the period 2017-2019 was 8.5 percent, which confirms Jordan's need to adapt to changes and future impacts of these challenges. In addition, Prof. Al-Khawaldeh indicated that the pillars presented by His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein in the Borlaug Dialogue in 2020 are a road map to challenge the crises and their impact on food security. Hence, among these pillars is the preparation of a national strategy for food security and its operational plan, in which the governmental institutions, the private sector, research institutions, universities and civil society organizations and development partners participated in its development. This participation resulted in the institutionalization of food security in Jordan, and this was reflected on the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in improving its performance on the level of international index of food security, where it is ranked 47 globally after it was ranked 62 before the year 2021. Moreover, Prof. Al-Khawaldeh pointed out that the by the second centenary of Jordan, we hope it becomes a regional and strategic center in terms of providing logistical services, storage, agricultural production, irrigation systems, knowledge transfer and modern technologies. The Deputy Head of the National Center for Security and Crisis Management, Brigadier General Hatem Al-Zoubi stated that the responsibility of the National Security Center is limited to the idea of early warning on the existing strategic and basic supplies required, in addition to forecasting supply chains related to strategic stocks and the presence of a constantly updated information board on the food situation in Jordan and ensure food security. Dr. Sabah Seifan, Head of the Agricultural Technology Department in the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Al-Ahliyya Amman University added that the food security conference organized by the Faculty of Agricultural Technology came to contribute to the national efforts exerted to achieve the royal vision on food security in Jordan by uniting relations and cooperation between all sectors, strengthening partnership and the exchanging of information, as nations are eager to move forward, develop strategies and use modern technologies to provide food security for its citizens. Dr. Sabah indicated that the Faculty of Agricultural Technology at Al-Ahliyya Amman University is a promising faculty that hopes and aims for excellence and leadership in preparing and graduating agricultural engineers with knowledge of global agricultural challenges, modern agricultural systems and all about the food industry and sector. The faculty has been provided with specialized laboratories for practical trainings for students and is also used to conduct researches in the field of biotechnology and modern agricultural systems such as aquaculture. During the conference, the former Minister of Agriculture, Engineer Saeed Al-Masry, presented a work sheet on the “Role of the Health Block in the Food Security System”. Dr. Nabil Assaf from the Food and Agriculture Organization presented a paper on the Role of International Organizations in the Food Security System”. Besides, the former Minister, Dr. Mahmoud Al-Duwairi presented a paper on “Food Security in Jordan, Reality and Aspirations”. Dr. Naeem Mazahreh, Assistant Director of the National Center for Agricultural Research for Research Affairs, presented a paper on “Food Security and Agricultural Scientific Research in Jordan”. In conclusion, Dr. Fadel Al-Zoubi also spoke about strategies to achieve food security in general and in Jordan in specific.