Food security expert Dr. Fadel ELZUBI stated that the traditional cooperative in Jordan, in its prevailing form, is a limited service entity: it buys supplies wholesale, distributes small loans, or organizes training, and then stops at that point. He noted that this model has exhausted its capacity to drive real transformation. What is required today, he explained, is a qualitative shift in concept: the cooperative as a productive investment company that owns capital assets and is managed with a logic of profitability and efficiency, not of subsidy.
He added: “In this model, a women’s cooperative is established as a productive investment company that owns a sorting and grading line, a citrus waxing unit, a cooling chamber, and a packaging line. Women contribute to the capital in cash, in kind, or through facilitated financing, becoming co-owners of an investment asset that generates annual profit distributed according to shares—not merely beneficiaries of a temporary development project that ends when donor funding ceases. This distinction is fundamental: a development project gives a fish for a season, while an owned asset provides a permanent, growing, and inheritable source of income.”
He emphasized that the success of such cooperatives depends on positioning themselves in the higher-value segments of the production chain, not in low-yield harvesting. Each cooperative can specialize in one or more segments depending on the relative advantage of its region. Aggregation and sorting transform scattered, uneven-quality crops into standardized products commanding higher market prices, while cleaning, packaging, and labeling enhance attractiveness for organized markets and export. Citrus waxing, he noted, is a high-value service that extends shelf life and improves appearance—currently imported from outside producing regions—while post-harvest services and cooling reduce losses that consume a large share of Jordan’s crops before reaching consumers.
He further explained that seedling production and plant propagation represent knowledge-intensive activities well-suited to women’s meticulous labor, providing year-round income. Likewise, household and semi-industrial food processing—from jams, pickles, and cheeses to drying—turns seasonal surpluses into storable, marketable products. This is completed by direct e-marketing, bypassing intermediaries through digital platforms that connect producers directly with consumers, raising profit margins and building local brands. In this positioning, the cooperative shifts from a cluster of wage laborers to a business enterprise that retains added value within the local community instead of leaking it outward.
The most difficult challenge, he noted, lies in financing the capital assets. The solution is not to wait for grants, but to engineer blended financing from multiple sources according to each stage. The Central Bank of Jordan’s refinancing programs at low interest rates for productive sectors and SMEs provide a natural starting point, supported by the Agricultural Credit Corporation as the closest financing arm for agricultural activity—provided lending products are designed for cooperative entities, not just individuals. Commercial banks and microfinance institutions can join through collective guarantees that offset the absence of individual collateral and reduce credit risk, while local and international development funds finance high-cost capital assets such as sorting and cooling lines through conditional grants requiring self-contribution to ensure seriousness.
The key, he stressed, is structuring capital: grants or concessional financing for major fixed assets, commercial loans for working capital, and in-kind and cash contributions from members to guarantee ownership and commitment. This arrangement makes the cooperative creditworthy instead of dependent on aid.
Dr. ELZUBI concluded that this model should not be measured by the number of beneficiaries, but by its compound economic impact: it raises the added value of agricultural products by processing them locally instead of exporting them raw; increases rural household income by transforming women from seasonal wage earners into profit-sharing partners; creates quality opportunities for youth in management, logistics, and digital marketing; reduces agricultural losses through cooling and rapid processing; improves Jordanian product competitiveness in export markets through grading and compliant packaging; and strengthens national food security by extending product shelf life and organizing supply. The ultimate outcome is a direct reduction of rural poverty through permanent, not seasonal, income.
He added that this proposed model is not theoretical, but has successful precedents worth reflection. In India, the Amul dairy cooperative transformed millions of rural women from marginal producers into owners of one of the country’s largest food brands by controlling collection, cooling, and processing. In Rwanda, women’s coffee cooperatives enabled producers to retain added value that previously leaked to intermediaries. In Morocco, women’s argan oil cooperatives proved that owning the production line and brand multiplies women’s returns many times compared to selling raw material.