This document summarizes key points from a webinar on agricultural development and rural policy. It discusses how rural development can be measured across ecological, institutional, political, social, and economic domains. It notes that most poor people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture, and are heavily impacted by climate change and resource deterioration. To drive positive transformation, the document advocates for supporting small farmers through access to credit, developing drought- and salt-tolerant crops, optimizing water usage through techniques like rain harvesting, and leveraging new technologies like hydroponics and digitization. Agricultural innovation is seen as core to this transformation to boost productivity, efficiency, adaptation, equity and sustainability.

1. 148th Regular Session on Agricultural
Development & Policy
ICLPST, Taiwan
Nael Thaher
Webinar 3
December 9, 2021

2. The Indicators of a Positive Rural Development

3. Macro
Framework/
Domains
Ecological
Institutional
Political
Social
Economic
3

4. Why Agriculture & Rural?
 Most of poor people live in rural areas & depend on agriculture for
their livelihood
 Rural people are mostly affected by climate change
 The deterioration of natural resources happens at a fast rate in the
rural areas (decline in biodiversity, pollution in soil & water,
desertification)
 Lack of employment opportunities
4

5. Long &
healthy life
Knowledge
&
Education
A decent
standard of
living
Welfare
isaveryimportantcontextthat
canbemeasuredbytheHDI
5

6. TRANSFORMATION IN
AGRICULTURE &
RURAL
Small-scale farmers play a key role in increasing food supply & increasingly
supply large conglomerates & corporations with inputs for their production lines
Securing earlier & better access to formal credit & finance which increase their
capacity to invest in technologies & input they need to increase their yields &
income & reduce poverty
Unfavorable climate conditions
Drought-tolerant crops research & salinity tolerant crops research for strategic
crops in the country. In other words, developing or improving new plant varieties
(strategic plants) that are tolerant to drought and/ or salinity using plant breeding &
biotechnology tools (gene editing technology or genome editing). Improved
agronomy, soil conservation & natural resource management techniques. Improved
tolerance to pests, diseases & adverse climate & soil conditions. Develop highly
productive crops requiring less pesticides, fertilizers & water
The agriculture sector is considered the largest user in terms of water use. In
addition, Jordan reuses approximately 93% of its treated wastewater for
agriculture and is exploring additional sources of supply, such as deep aquifers,
brackish and large-scale seawater desalination
optimizing the use of existing resources by reducing physical and commercial
losses & improving energy efficiency in water treatment & distribution
Increasing the efficiency of water use available for irrigation, the use of rain
harvesting
Capitalizing on new agricultural technologies such as hydroponic systems &
digitizing the input & output of agricultural decision-making
6

7. Agricultural innovation is
and will continue to be at
the core of this
transformation
Innovation will need to
bring in progress in
productivity, resource
use efficiency, land &
water in particular,
food system
adaptation to climate
change, equity &
sustainability
Innovation would need
to contribute to a
reduction in losses &
wastages & lead to
improvements in the
production &
consumption of more
nutritious foods
Innovation would need
to help lift small-scale
farmers out of poverty,
reducing their
vulnerability &
building their capacity
to participate actively
in their countries
economic lifecycles
Innovation should
provide women &
youth with new and
more rewarding
careers offering
decent employment
opportunities in
agriculture servicing
the active food supply
chains
7

8. Some developing countries
adopted innovation &
precision agriculture
technologies; the
challenge is that
transformative innovations
& modern tools are often
not designed for
smallholder use
New post COVID-19
priorities should aim
to produce specific &
factual knowledge on
the different types &
facets of innovation
that is readily
applicable to
agriculture, food & the
rural development
sectors in the
developing world
Understanding the
impact of the various
types of innovations
on agriculture; the
key drivers & enablers
& how they effectively
serve to determine
suitable pathways
8

9. To build resilient & prospering food systems in emerging markets
over the years, there should be some focus on
Agri-food systems innovations including market linkages, food
traceability, trust & agricultural waste management
Youth & women employment in agriculture including start-ups,
business incubators & accelerators & some seed supply chain
Convergence of current & emerging technologies for agriculture
including precision agriculture, hydroponics/aquaponics, vertical
farming, imagery & sensors, drones, bio-pesticides, gene editing
technology to improve seed traits & early warning for the control
of pests and diseases
Changes in farming practices & leveraged technologies will
continue to increase proficiencies in seed technology, fertilizing
practices & crop protection products
9

10. The way forward
• An urgent need to protect the most vulnerable people
• Maintaining the food supply chain
• Mitigating the effects of COVID-19 pandemic throughout the food
system and increase the food production
• Building better resilient food systems
• Investment in agricultural RDI & accelerating the pace towards more
productive, sustainable, efficient, & equitable value chains

11. THANK YOU!