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GIEWS Country Brief Jordan 02-June-2020

Attachments

FOOD SECURITY SNAPSHOT

  • Favourable weather conditions for crop development

  • Stable cereal import requirements forecast in 2020/21

  • Food inflation increased as households stockpile

  • Refugees from Syrian Arab Republic continue to put strain on local resources

Favourable weather conditions for crop development

Harvesting of spring wheat, planted in February, will start in June. With the exception of Mafraq Governorate, where precipitation amounts in 2020 have been close to average, other agriculturally productive areas received well above‑average rainfall amounts. Rains at times complicated planting, but provided ample soil moisture. Favourable rains contributed to expanding the area planted with wheat to 30 000 hectares (up from the 20 000 hectares in the previous year) but domestic cereal production remains negligible owing to geographic conditions. Cereal production in 2020 is forecast at an above‑average level of 105 000 tonnes, 5 percent above the harvest gathered in 2019.

Production of vegetables and fruits is economically more significant than cereal production. In March 2020, many greenhouses and fruit trees in the Jordan Valley suffered damages caused by the gusty winds with a speed of up to 120 km per hour.

Abundant precipitation levels improved pasture conditions and prolonged the grazing season, allowing herders to decrease their barley purchases. Sheep and goat farmers receive subsidized barley according to the number of tagged animals, which is restricted to ten. Farmers attempt to by‑pass the limit by splitting their herds among family members. Cattle and poultry farms are not eligible for subsidized barley.

Stable cereal import requirements

Even in years with above‑average domestic production, over 97 percent of the domestic cereal food and feed requirements are satisfied through imports. Cereal import requirements in the 2020/21 marketing year (July/June) are forecast at an average level of 2.7 million tonnes. Wheat and barley imports are usually sourced from the Black Sea region given lower freight costs compared to other origins. The Government maintains strategic stocks of cereals aiming at covering up to five months of domestic consumption.

The expansion of the bulk carrier vessel off‑loading and silo storage capabilities of the Port of Aqaba is about to be completed. Silo storage capacity has been expanded from 100 000 to 200 000 tonnes and it is expected to reach 300 000 tonnes in the future. The country strives to become a re‑exporting hub for cereals.

Food inflation increases

Responding to increased demand as households’ stockpiled food due to the lockdown, the food price inflation in March 2020 increased to 5.2 percent year on year, up from 2.6 percent in February 2020. It eased to 4.9 percent in April 2020. Although price increases occurred, no shortages were reported on the markets. The increased cost of transportation contributed to the price increases since, as a result of limits on cross‑loading, trucks return empty.

Refugees from Syrian Arab Republic put strain on resources

According to UNHCR, as of early May 2020, almost 660 000 registered Syrian refugees were hosted in the country, mostly concentrated in Mafraq, Amman and Irbid governorates. The figure has not significantly changed since late 2016. Most of the refugees arrived between January and April 2013, when the conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic escalated. The World Food Programme (WFP) targets its programmes to assist the most vulnerable refugees through food vouchers across the country and through the provision of in‑kind food distributions in the Zaatari Refugee Camp and some of the transit centres hosting refugees.

COVID‑19 and measures adopted by the Government

To contain the spread of the disease, as of mid‑March 2020, the Government suspended all border crossings, except for cargo traffic and introduced a quarantine for returnees and social distancing measures for all. Travel between cities was banned and curfews were put in place. The Syrian refugee camps were under lockdown and no external visitors have been permitted to enter. People caught breaking the rules could face up to one year of jail time. In early May 2020, the country lifted the restrictions on all economic activity, but schools remain closed and the curfew maintained.

The Government adopted policies to enable public and private sector employees to receive a certain share of their monthly wages with a contribution from the Government while working from home or reporting for work. In companies enrolled in the Social Security Corporation (SSC), employees whose salaries range from JOD 155 to JOD 500 per month (JOD 1 is equivalent to USD 1.4) can receive 50 percent of their salaries, with the employer paying 20 percent, with a maximum of JOD 250. In companies not enrolled in the SSC, each employee can receive JOD 150. Daily workers, whose jobs were affected by containment measures, received a one‑off payment ranging from JOD 70 to JOD 136, depending on the size of the household. In total, JOD 27 million were distributed. It is foreseen that the payment would be repeated in the future, if deemed necessary.

The Government suspended all wage increases for public sector employees until 2021, while deducting 10 percent from salaries exceeding JOD 2 000 per month as a contribution to the Treasury.

The National Aid Fund distributed food parcels with a monetary value of between JOD 40 to JOD 50 to about 100 000 vulnerable families that include a person over the age of 70 and casual workers. Electronic payment cards were distributed to 30 000 vulnerable families facing difficult living conditions to purchase food and non‑food supplies totalling up to JOD 100 per month for to the next six months. Cards need to be used in the markets of the military and civil service consumer corporation.

To access their fields during the lockdown, farmers had to apply for special electronic travel permits. Small farms not formally registered have experienced difficulties in obtaining the permits. Input suppliers have re‑opened in late April 2020. The Government announced a new programme to support farmers affected by COVID‑19 and by storms in March 2020 providing JOD 10 million loans with zero interest and a five‑year grace period through the Agricultural Credit Corporation.

Since the second half of April, domestically produced agricultural products considered to be in surplus, such as canned food, vegetable oil, tahini, meat, nuts and coffee, are allowed to be exported, assuming that sufficient stocks remain on the local market. The re‑export of rice, sugar, pulses, fodder and wheat remain banned. India and Egypt, respectively, the main rice and pulses exporters to the country, restricted exports in an effort to bolster their domestic availability. Pulses are currently being sourced from Turkey, but at a higher price.

The International Monetary Fund approved USD 396 million in emergency assistance to address the COVID‑19 pandemic.