The Ministry of Agriculture signed an agreement with the Jordan Agricultural Engineers Association on Tuesday to set up a fish farming and aquaponics facilities in the Northern Jordan Valley.

Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat said the ministry is open to investments in its agricultural stations with the aim of rehabilitating them and achieving added value locally through production inputs and employment. The ministry also seeks to promote entrepreneurship and create job opportunities for youth across the governorates.

The project, he pointed out, targets fresh graduate engineers, adding that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will offer a grant of up to $75,000 as part of the agreement.

Hneifat said the ministry, through the Agricultural Credit Corporation, has provided over JD20 million in aid to entrepreneurship fish farming projects, and is also supporting young entrepreneurs through the agricultural innovation incubator at the National Agricultural Research Center.

The project offers training and qualification opportunities for a vast number of new graduate engineers, in addition to direct and indirect job opportunities for at least 15 others, with the potential for more as the project expands, as well as 20 job opportunities for logistics and project assistance positions, said President of the Association Ahmad Hamouri.

Source: Jordan News Agency