After the agricultural sector announced it was "on the brink of collapse”, the government passed recommendations to reduce the cost of agricultural permits from JD520 to JD320 and allow the recruitment of foreign workers.

The sector needs "immediate and effective” solutions to its main problems, Minister of Agriculture Mohammad Daoudiyeh said recently.

Daoudiyeh previously stated that the sector is facing three "alarming” problems: Shortage labour and water and high operational costs.

Minister of Labour and Minister of State for Investment Affairs Maen Qatamin has decided to approve the recruitment of foreign workers, as the sector has repeatedly stated that, since the onset of the pandemic, the border closure has caused serious shortage of workers in the sector.

Head of the Jordan Valley Farmers Union Adnan Khaddam told The Jordan Times that the sector "welcomes these new decisions and hopes that the government will reduce these fees to JD100 or exempt farmers from fees altogether”.

"Farmers are selling their farms, going to jail for their debts and producing half of what they could be producing, as a result of the amounting pressures of the pandemic on the sector, so any small help is welcomed,” he added.

With thousands of farmers unable to meet loan payments and thousands of others enduring losses, rather than making profits, Khaddam said that "if the prices remain this low, it will become impossible to save the sector”.

Daoudiyeh highlighted the difficulty of providing governmental support at this stage and stated that "the government cannot provide aid, but it can work on reducing fees and amending the laws in favour of the sector”.

"The government needs to step in before it is too late to save the sector,” he added.

A few days ago, multiple farmers associations released a joint statement in which they said that the sector is "on the brink of collapse,” urging immediate actions to "resolve at least one of the sector’s problems”.