27 Years of Royal Vision and Building National Food Security Resilience

 Surplus Directed for Export in 28 Local Agricultural Products

International food security expert Dr. Fadel ELZUBI affirmed that national occasions in the life of states and peoples transcend symbolic celebration, becoming strategic milestones for transparency, policy evaluation, and reading the paths of transformation in the structure of the state and its institutions. ELZUBI told Al-Rai that with twenty-seven years having passed since His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein assumed his constitutional powers, Jordan today stands before a profound transformative scene measured not only by the quantitative accumulation of achievements, but by the nature of the leadership philosophy that steered the state amid a turbulent region and successive international crises.

Over nearly three decades, the Royal Vision succeeded in moving Jordan from a pattern of “crisis management” and immediate response to repercussions, to a model of “future-making” based on anticipation, risk forecasting, and building solid national resilience, anchored in self-reliance as a strategic choice with no alternative in a reshaped world.

The Royal Vision internally integrated with a firm international and regional presence, as His Majesty succeeded in consolidating Jordan’s position as a pivotal state with a leading role in promoting regional stability and moderation. This role was not detached from domestic reality, but rather formed a diplomatic and economic shield that protected the state from the violent reverberations of surrounding crises. Jordanian diplomacy under His Majesty became an effective tool for attracting strategic partnerships and employing them to support national modernization programs and sustainable development.

ELZUBI stressed that reforms and national programs over the past decades were not isolated measures, but crystallized under His Majesty into a comprehensive modernization system moving along three parallel and integrated tracks: political modernization, economic modernization, and administrative modernization. Political modernization means reshaping party and parliamentary life to ensure broader participation of youth and women in decision-making, while administrative modernization targets the development of public administration and automation of services to raise government efficiency. Economic modernization, meanwhile, forms a cross-government roadmap to unleash the potential of the national economy, stimulate investment, provide job opportunities, and link all sectors to a clear future vision aimed at improving citizens’ quality of life tangibly and sustainably across governorates, villages, and rural areas.

He noted that the file of food security and agricultural development stands out as one of the clearest applied models of the Royal Vision’s success in building national resilience. His Majesty early directed the need to formulate proactive policies to protect national markets from global supply chain fluctuations and geopolitical crises, embodied in the establishment of the Higher Council for Food Security as an integrated institutional umbrella to lead this sector. Official statistics from the Department of Statistics reveal the scale of structural transformation in this file, as overall self-sufficiency in food reached 61.4%, alongside full self-sufficiency and surplus exports in about 28 agricultural products. Notably, melon achieved 485% self-sufficiency, zucchini 173%, tomatoes 167%, and olive oil 114%, while fresh milk and olives reached complete self-sufficiency at 100%.

This qualitative leap in production was accompanied by a clear surge in foreign trade, reflected in the rapid rise of national agricultural export values, showcasing the high competitiveness of Jordanian products. Safeguarding this achievement extended to strategic tools, foremost among them raising grain storage capacity to about 2.3 million tons, covering basic wheat needs for nine to ten months, forming a true safety valve against global economic shocks.

ELZUBI explained that the concept of “self-reliance” instilled by His Majesty does not operate in isolated islands, but interlinks water, energy, investment, digital transformation, health, and education within an integrated national performance matrix. In water management and climate adaptation, the Kingdom expanded adoption of modern irrigation techniques and climate-smart agriculture, focusing on water harvesting projects and building dams and earthen ponds to ensure sustainable rural and agricultural development in fragile areas. In industry and food safety, regulatory institutions—foremost the Jordan Food and Drug Administration—led a package of strict legislations and controls to protect citizens’ health and support competitiveness of local food industries through banning harmful substances, facilitating export procedures, and automation. In digital transformation and green innovation, the investment environment witnessed the launch of national programs and competitions for innovative green projects, setting indicators to reduce food waste, and employing digital technology as a pivotal tool to support decision-making and direct investments toward high value-added sectors. These efforts paralleled strengthening social protection networks through school feeding programs, fortifying staple foods with nutrients, and providing assistance and cash transfers to vulnerable families to mitigate economic shifts and improve community health and nutrition.

This integrated package of Royally-directed policies and programs yielded notable progress for Jordan in international indicators, as the Kingdom recorded declines in malnutrition rates and tangible improvement on the Global Hunger Index, confirming that national strategies are precisely translated into real results felt by citizens in their daily lives.

ELZUBI concluded that reviewing the twenty-seven-year journey of His Majesty King Abdullah II’s reign leaves no doubt that Jordan was not merely experiencing spontaneous numerical accumulation of achievements, but was engaged in a continuous, methodical engineering process. Its aim was not simply survival in a highly complex regional environment, but the higher goal of shaping a national model capable of international competitiveness, resilience against cross-border crises, and achieving sustainable prosperity for future generations. The comprehensive modernization vision led by His Majesty today places Jordan on the threshold of a promising future, armed with its national resilience, reliance on the capacities of its people, and its established institutions—ensuring that the Hashemite state remains, as always: strong, flexible, and capable of turning challenges into opportunities for building and growth.