Memorandum of Understanding between the Business Development Center -BDC and the Association of Fish and Marine Breeders Within the UNICEF-funded Azm Project to Create Job Opportunities and Self-Employment Opportunities

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Under the patronage of His Excellency Eng. Khaled Al-Hanaifat, Minister of Agriculture, and in the presence of Ms. Tanya Chapuisat ,Country Representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund “UNICEF” in Jordan, the Business Development Center-BDC signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with the Association of Fish and Marine Breeders with the aim of helping females and local community to start their pioneering projects in the field of fish farming within the UNICEF-funded Azm project “Economic support for communities that have been affected the most by the Corona pandemic through self-employment”.
This initiative was launched as part of joint efforts to promote investment in the agricultural sector and its role in creating employment opportunities, especially for targeted females in the age group 18-24 years and a group of local community organizations with a focus on the northern Jordan Valley areas in Ghor al-Safi and Deir Alla all the way to the southern Jordan Valley within the most suitable areas in terms of water availability and weather suitability and in line with the requirements of the fish farming sector.
Through cooperation between the Business Development Center- BDC, the Association of Fish and Marine Biology Breeders, and the UNICEF-funded Azm project, suitable lands for fish farming will be selected and the participating females will be chosen within clear criteria to reach 70 participating females to present the project idea thereto, then provide technical training in aquaculture, fishing, hatchery, and ornamental fish, choosing from 15 to 20 participating females to comply with the project criteria and conditions to start their own projects, and 7 associations to establish productive projects that create real job opportunities and self-employment opportunities. The Azm project, managed by the Business Development Center- BDC, shall purchase equipment and tools, supervise implementation, and then connects them to local markets to sell and promote products. The Association as well shall, according to the memorandum, provide technical support, follow-up, and purchase all products from local community organizations and the participating selected females.
In his speech, His Excellency Eng. Khaled Al-Hanaifat praised the importance of the project, as the fish farming sector is one of the pioneering income-generating projects and contributes to creating job opportunities at the local level. The Ministry gives great attention to empowering farmers and directing them towards economically feasible projects, given their positive impact on their economic conditions in terms of achieving an appropriate income to meet their needs and covering costs, while achieving profit margins that ensure sustainability and continuity of these projects.
Ms. Tanya Chapuisat , UNICEF Country Representative in Jordan, said: “UNICEF is focusing on interventions aimed at empowering Jordan’s most vulnerable young women and men, and assisting their smooth transition to productive adulthood. We are pleased to see partners come together today to address the challenges facing young people in Jordan and further strengthen Azm project sustainability.”
Mr. Ghaleb Hijazi, The Business Development Center’s general manager, pointed out the role of the Business Development Center in contributing to economic development by stimulating pioneering projects that provide employment opportunities for youth. He also clarified the specificity of the current project as a pioneering project that seeks to enhance the importance of investment in Jordan’s agricultural resources with the presence of specialized experts, which would make a qualitative leap in agricultural investment and provide a source of income and job opportunities in the governorates where human and agricultural resources are available, in line with the strategic plans set by the Jordanian government in stimulating the Jordanian economy and investment. He indicated that it is expected that this pilot project within the UNICEF-funded Azm project will create at least 15 opportunities for self-employment and 40 opportunities for direct employment.
For his part, Engineer Mohamed Omar Shaheen, President of the Fish Farming and Animal Husbandry Association, stressed that the human development represented in this project depends mainly on the development of technical and scientific expertise to manage and develop fish farming projects within a comprehensive plan so that these projects constitute a nucleus for the development of fish farming at the micro and small levels of fish farming projects. This step is in line with the National Continuity Plan for Fisheries Development, which was developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, and is considered a cornerstone in the development of this sector.