King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan made a trip to the Southern Badia region of the country to check in on some projects.
On Sunday, 8th January, Their Majesties travelled East of Amman, arriving in Al Disi, where their first stop was an agricultural project, which was launched in 2021 upon the directives of the Royal Family.
The project aims at creating jobs for the local community in an essential sector for the entire population. Currently, around 200 seasonal workers are hired every year, 80% of whom are women.
The land utilised for this project was provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, while daily operations are managed by a consortium of cooperatives, which include Al Hussein Agricultural Cooperative and the Military Retirees Association for the farming side, and the Al Tweisah Charity Association for Fishery.
Agriculture Minister Hneifat, who was travelling with the royal couple, used the occasion to announce that the project will be allocated an agricultural station for an ecotourism project to start, which, in turn, will create more jobs and ultimately benefit the entire community.
King Abdullah and Queen Rania’s second stop was the Al Disi Women Cooperative Association, which also works on the aforementioned agricultural project. Established in 2010, the association works with local women to implement projects with different aims.
Some of them include pottery and ceramics classes and selling, sewing, and “a traditional cooking experience offered to visitors and tourists”, according to the Royal Hashemite Court’s website.
But their most prestigious project is the maintaining of a plant nursery made up of several greenhouses that are home to some of Jordan’s native species that have been declining over the years. In this spirit, the King and Queen planted a saxaul tree, a plant native to the region.
Their final stop was the Badawiyat programme, which serves traditional food to tourists and visitors – food that is prepared in a productive kitchen powered by a solar project financed by the Jordan River Foundation. Badawiyat also has a programme for small businesses to receive circular loan funds.
King Abdullah and Queen Rania have long supported such projects, aimed at improving tourism revenue in their country, as well as the creation of a more inclusive society, especially for women in rural areas.
