The Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) on Monday signed 13 linkage agreements between farmers, exporters and hypermarket owners as part of one of the "Rural Economic Growth and Employment Project - REGEP" activities.

The project, implemented by JEDCO, is funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The signing of these agreements comes as part of the project's plan, in cooperation with the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruit and Vegetables (JEPA) which aims at helping small-scale farmers and producers to benefit from the project by opening marketing windows to promote their products and build their capabilities through cooperation with exporters and hypermarket owners, according to a statement by JEDCO.

During the signing ceremony, JEDCO CEO Bashar Zu'bi said that in 2015, the project came within the framework of economic development and employment to reduce poverty and unemployment by providing successful economic projects in the rural areas, targeting women and youth.

JEDCO, through this project, will provide support for these linkages by covering part of the costs of packaging, since this process is considered one of the key processes in preserving the quality of agricultural products and reducing waste, Zu'bi said.

Zu'bi thanked JEPA and assured JEDCO's readiness in providing support to the association.

Meanwhile, JEPA Vice President Zuhair Jweihan said that the association, through the REGEP project, promotes agricultural exports and post-harvest operations and works to develop the competitiveness of fresh Jordanian gardening products globally and locally.

It also creates linkages between the targeted small farmers and major producers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and exporters as well as linking them with input suppliers, read the statement.

Among the agreements, Al Murjan Association, a tourism project concerned with agricultural tourism, established several linkages with a number of women farmers in Balqa'a Governorate to provide them with quantities of thyme, grapes and okra to use in food processing, the statement said.

Linkages were also established with the Safeway Group to facilitate promotion of REGEP beneficiaries' products through all Safeway branches spread in Jordan. Also, linkages were made with the Agricultural Material Traders Consortium through JEBA to provide services to the targeted small-scale farmers and linking them with the suppliers, agricultural material stores, in addition to provide them with fertilisers, pesticides and seeds, with low prices and high quality.

REGEP aims at the development of agricultural projects to integrate small-scale farmers in value chains and improve their opportunities to get the needed funding in rural areas, improve their capacity building and competitiveness and their contributions to selected value chains in rural areas, according to the statement.