In Jordan, ‘Minister Joseph’ Says Grain Reserves Sufficient for Anticipated Lean Year

Jordanian Trade Minister Yousef Al-Shamali, addressing a meeting Sunday of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Investment, said nothing about the king dreaming of thin cows devouring fat cows. But it doesn’t take the powers of prophecy to understand that war in Ukraine, the breadbasket of Europe, will cause grain shortages not only in Europe but in large parts of the MENA region. Al-Shamali told the committee that Jordan’s wheat and barley reserves were sufficient to cover more than a year of the country’s needs. The minister said Jordan was the only Arab country that could make such a claim, and that the kingdom had the capacity to store wheat for 18 months of consumption if necessary. According to the Trade Ministry, the country consumes 80,000 metric tons of wheat and 60,000 metric tons of barley monthly. Amman Chamber of Commerce Chairman Khalil Haj Tawfiq called for further strengthening of Jordan’s strategic stockpile of foodstuffs and said that the country currently imports about 85% of its food needs. Global wheat prices have spiked, not only, or even primarily, due to interruptions in the supply because of the current fighting but in anticipation of greater shortages next year. Even if the war were to end soon, next year’s harvest would be reduced because farmers this year had little time to plant the new crop.