Amman, Jordan, 17 to 20 September 2019

 

 

     

 

The 11th annual meeting of the Mediterranean Organic Agriculture Network (MOAN) took place in Amman, Jordan from the 17 to the 20 of September with the participation of Jordan's Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment, Ibrahim Al-Shahahdeh, Maurizio Raeli, Director of the CIHEAM Bari, Plàcido Plaza, Secretary-General of the CIHEAM and a video message of Eduardo Cuoco, Director of the EU working level of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM EU Group). Today, organic agriculture is able to meet the main challenges such as food safety, environmental protection and climate change. These challenges represent a strong push factor for other urgent issues in the Mediterranean region, and the CIHEAM and its partners conveyed this message during this 4 day meeting.   His Excellency Minister Ibrahim Al-Shahahdeh, appreciated the technical experience of the CIHEAM Bari Institute and IFOAM EU, and of other countries that provide and exchange information, data, instructions and regulations related to the organic agriculture sector with the Ministry.   He added that “the Ministry of Agriculture has made significant steps in organic agriculture in all aspects, especially in terms of regulations and by-law, awareness-raising.” During his speech, the Secretary-General of the CIHEAM, Plàcido Plaza, stressed that today, the MOAN Network is acting as a “platform for North-South and South-South discussions on legislative and technical issues related to organic agriculture”. He also emphasised the Network’s capacity to contribute to a sustainable future for Mediterranean agriculture, in line with the CIHEAM Strategic Agenda 2025 (CAPMED), inspired by the UN Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development.   Maurizio Raeli, Director of the CIHEAM Bari recalled that training and cooperation activities between the CIHEAM Bari Institute and Jordan were initiated as from 2003. These activities mainly focus on the enhancement of gender mainstreaming for sustainable rural development and food security, the promotion of non-conventional water reuse in agriculture; the introduction of innovative technologies for irrigation in Mediterranean environments, and more recently on the value chain of the organic sector. In collaboration with IFOAM UE, this year’s thematic seminar and its workshops focused on group certification under the new EU regulation. The 3-day meeting that gathered 20 representatives of the Networks member countries, also included a presentation of the Jordanian organic sector, technical visits to organic farms and tourist trips in Amman, Madaba and Petra.

 

 

 

       

 

  

About MOAN:   Following the recommendations of the first Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Agriculture (Venice, 27 November 2003), MOAN became an institutional network in 2006 composed of representatives of Ministries of Agriculture and it was enlarged to other Euro-Mediterranean countries. The network brings together experts and pioneers from 24 countries of which 11 are CIHEAM member countries (Albania, Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey), with the objective of developing organic agriculture in Mediterranean countries through activities of promotion, training, research and data collection on the sector. MOAN collaborates with representatives from universities, research institutes, private associations and Ministries of Agriculture. Since 2006, the MOAN secretariat is established at CIHEAM Bari, which runs this Network and works to give it a growing international exposure. Delegates and experts from the MOAN are also invited to attend many major international events for organic agriculture.     Download MOAN 2019 Report