Today, Saturday, Jordan participate the world in celebration of World Food Day, which falls on the sixteenth of October of each year, a day declared by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which is celebrated this year under the theme"Our actions are our future."
This day aims to raise public awareness of the suffering of the hungry and undernourished in the world and to encourage people around the world to take measures to combat hunger, as more than 150 countries celebrate this occasion every year.
The Secretary-General of the Higher Population Council, Dr. Abla Amawi, indicated in a press release on the occasion that worldwide, there is a need for sustainable food and agricultural systems capable of providing the necessary food for up to 10 billion people by 2050. Statistics also show that more than 3 billion people (40% of the world's population) are unable to afford a healthy diet, showing that the Coronavirus pandemic has affected all pillars of food security, namely the availability, accessibility, utilization, and stability of the food. Access to food has been particularly affected by the loss of income and livelihoods, increased food prices, disruption of programs, including school feeding programs and disruption of supply chains, and pandemic is expected to add between 83 to 132 million people who are undernourished, and the number of people who have fallen into extreme poverty as a result of the pandemic has been estimated at between 88 and 115 million.
At the Jordan level, Amawi emphasized that food security is at the heart of 2030, sustainable development plan, especially the second goal (eradicating hunger and promoting sustainable agriculture).
Jordan seeks to achieve it by 2030, as it works to implement policies and programs to enhance food security and eradicate hunger and malnutrition. Nevertheless, Jordan faces a range of challenges in order to enhance food security as a result of the increasing demand due to high population growth rates combined with unsustainable consumption patterns, stress on ecosystems and the environment, and water scarcity, Jordan ranks 62nd on the Global Food Security Index for 2020, in addition to the burden of multiple malnutrition and non-communicable diseases related to diets, where the percentage of anemia among women is 43% and among children 32%, and the percentage of obesity in adults (18 years and over) 32.3%, and among married women in the age group (15-49 years) 21.9%.
The Higher Population Council indicated in the statement that Jordan has suffered, like other countries of the world, from the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, which has affected all social groups, especially the vulnerable, fragile, and economic sectors since the beginning of 2020, and the subsequent economic effects that exacerbated poverty, unemployment and reduced food security in all Its dimensions and impact on social protection programs, which posed a challenge to pursue the path to eradicating hunger by the year2030.
Pointing out that Jordan is considered one of the food-importing countries, due to its dependence mainly on imports to provide food for its population, which exceeded (11) million people, and the population is expected to reach about (12) million people by 2030, It is also Jordan's responsibility to provide food to about 31% of the non-Jordanian population residing on its lands, this has constituted and constitutes pressure on providing food security, as Jordan imports more than (57%) of food, and the level of severe food insecurity for 2020 is estimated at 13.5%, and more than 15.7% of the population lives below the poverty line, poverty and the prevalence of undernourishment in Jordan for the period (2017-2019) is about 8.5%.
With regard to the food security of refugees, a study of a representative sample of Jordanian refugees and families in the host communities, which was carried out by the World Food Program in Jordan in 2021, indicated that 93.4% of refugee families in the communities they are either suffer from food insecure or are vulnerable to food insecurity (23.4% ) food insecure and 60% vulnerable to food insecurity), especially vulnerable population groups include female-headed households and families with members who are disabled or suffer from chronic diseases. 20% of refugee families in the communities also sent mostly male children to work and 4% of families agreed to an early marriage of children, mostly female, in order to meet the families’ food needs.
The council emphasized that Jordanian women play a major role in enhancing food security, and some women participate in family income-generating activities through food production from inside the home. However, women’s economic participation is still low, in addition to their limited ownership of agricultural holdings, which does not exceed 6% of the total agricultural holdings in the Kingdom, with an economic participation rate of 5.6% in the agricultural sector, the high percentage of those working in the informal sector, and the low ability of women on obtaining official financing compared to men, as well as marketing problems.
For the purposes of Jordan’s endeavor to achieve food security by 2030, the Council recommends the importance of directing policies to promote sustainable production of affordable food, maximize utilization of local food production potentials, improve productivity and food quality, ensure the availability of sufficient strategic stocks of basic food resources, stimulate investments and reduce Food loss and waste, improving access and access to food by supporting social safety net programs, and creating sustainable economic opportunities, especially in rural communities, and especially for women and youth, and to promote food systems research, innovation, and technology, strengthen programs to address forms of malnutrition, and increase support for food security and nutrition in crisis situations, especially the poorest affected population groups, including refugees.
