Amman, Oct. 28 (Petra) -- The Agriculture Ministry, in cooperation with the International Labor Organization (ILO), signed an agreement on Wednesday to implement the second phase of a project to improve water use efficiency in agriculture in Amman, Karak and Jerash governorates.

It aims to complete activities that develop irrigation infrastructure, reduce water loss and improve the delivery of irrigation water to farmland. It also seeks to create jobs for people in local communities.

The labor-intensive project is part of the "Afaq" partnership program with the ILO, Agriculture Minister Saeb Khraisat said in a press release.

He said it supports the ministry's efforts to improve water use efficiency, upgrade irrigation infrastructure and reclaim farmland. He added that it provides temporary jobs that support rural communities and improve farmers' livelihoods.

The minister said the second phase includes reclaiming farmland through soil maintenance and protection work and planting fruit trees. It also includes rehabilitating and protecting 3,300 linear meters of concrete spring water channels and 1,800 linear meters of irrigation channels.

He said the second phase is expected to provide about 445 temporary jobs, stressing the importance of linking water and agriculture projects to job creation, farmer support and local development in the targeted areas.

Khraisat said the first phase covered maintenance and construction of irrigation channels and laying irrigation pipes totaling more than 5,000 linear meters to deliver water to farmland and enable farmers to obtain their spring water shares more efficiently.

//Petra// NQ