Participants taking part in a training course on laboratory techniques for monitoring and testing crops irrigated with treated wastewater, held at the Centre for Environmental Health Action in Amman, JordanAiming at supporting the capacity of monitoring agricultural products irrigated by treated wastewater, this workshop was organized by WHO/United Nations Development Programme/Global Enviornment Facility global project on piloting climate change adaptation to protect human health. It was implemented by the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA), in close collaboration with the WHO Centre for Environmental Health Action (CEHA), and the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, Water and the Environment, and related agencies.
The course was inaugurated by H.E. Dr Taher Shakhshir, Minister of Environment, Dr Hayel Obidat, Director General, JFDA, and Dr Basel Al-Yousfi, Director, CEHA. The opening ceremony was attended by about 150 government and nongovernmental officials representing sectors related to climate change adaptation and safe reuse of wastewater.
H.E. Dr Al Shakhsir emphasized the importance of the strong ties between ministries of environment agriculture, health and water, and JFDA for ensuring maintenance of high quality of agricultural products irrigated with wastewater in light of Jordan’s limited water resources. He also commended the support provided by WHO to Jordan in general, and its leadership on this project in particular.
Dr Obidat noted WHO/CEHA continued cooperation and support to JFDA in developing the capacities of laboratories technicians in monitoring and facilitating the dissemination of knowledge.
Dr Al-Yousfi stated “we hope this training will initiate an integrated system for monitoring microbiological quality of fresh fruits and vegetables and allocating Jordan as one of the pioneers in the region towards adopting such a system for protecting public health and safeguarding the environment in accordance with WHO guidelines”.
The workshop aims at strengthening the laboratories’ capacities in monitoring crops irrigated with wastewater by disseminating and capitalizing on the extensive experiences gained by the JFDA during their 6 year monitoring programme in the middle and northern parts of the Jordan Valley. The workshop was attended by 14 trainees from the national crop monitoring stakeholders, which included laboratory technicians from governorates nominated by the Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Irrigation, and Health Directorates, Royal Scientific Society and the National Center for Agricultural Research and Extension (NCARE).
