The Jordanian Agricultural Engineers Association (JAEA) and HolandDoor Organisation on Sunday launched the two-year "Orange Knowledge Programme,” which aims to strengthen the expertise and capacity of Jordan’s agro-food sector.

The programme, funded by Nuffic, a Dutch organisation for the internationalisation of education, seeks to expand vocational students’ knowledge and provide them with necessary skills in the agro-food sector to meet the needs of Jordan’s labour market, according to a JAEA statement. 

"The programme’s activities have already started. The Orange Knowledge Programme is targeting agricultural students from Zamaleyeh School, in the Jordan valley and Farouq School in Balqa,” JAEA Spokesperson Jamal Ali told The Jordan Times.

The principals of the two vocational schools, representatives of the agriculture and education ministries and representatives from the private sector also met during the opening ceremony to discuss ways to create partnerships that benefit the agro-food industry, vocational students and schools.

The programme aims to link education with the agro-food industry to help agricultural students meet the market’s needs and get better jobs, which will in turn boost the Jordanian economy, according to the JAEA statement.

"The country has a young population: About 56.4 per cent is younger than 25 years of age, which suggests that investment in youth is an important instrument for national development,” read the Nuffic country plan for Jordan.