Jordan
The Higher Council for Food Security
Jordan's Higher Council for Food Security is chaired by the Prime Minister and brings ministers together with three private sector bodies as full members with equal voice. Four specialist committees supply evidence and strategic recommendations, and a secretariat in the agriculture ministry supports the Council's work. This institutional set up can be classed as a dual, delineated mechanism.
Institutional set-up and structure
Established in 2023 by cabinet regulation, the Council was recently brought under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, having previously been chaired from the Ministry of Agriculture; its secretariat remains within that Ministry. Four specialist committees cover food loss, policy and planning, information, and finance. They function as expert groups, providing evidence and decision-making tools and making strategic recommendations.
Mandate and decision-making power
The Council oversees the national food security strategy and decides the course of action. It aligns the work of different ministries and avoids duplication, decides policy priorities and high-level strategies, formulates recommendations and decides between policy alternatives. The secretariat supplies the data and information that informs strategic direction and takes many of the operational decisions.
The Council is tasked with the following roles (building blocks):
Agenda setting: advocacy and dialogue; deciding on goals and strategic priorities
Policy formulation and decision making: providing technical advice; coordinating policy development; developing policies for consideration by the relevant authorities; deciding and enacting them
Implementation: coordinating policy and programme delivery
Monitoring and evaluation: tracking progress, evaluating and reporting
Who is involved
Government: ministers, with each ministry represented at ministerial level
Private sector: the department of industry, the chamber of commerce and the farmers' association, as full members with the same rights and voice as ministers
Non-governmental organisations: members of the specialist committees rather than of the Council
Academia and development partners: not members
How it works in practice
Meets every three months
Any member may raise an issue; priorities are set by the members themselves
Decisions are taken by vote to reach consensus, with the chair deciding where a vote is tied
A food security management system with 36 priority indicators reports annually
Minutes of both Council and committee meetings are made available to the public
Conflict-of-interest questions are handled through compromise rather than a formal procedure
Evidence base: key informant interviews and policy documents, 2026. Last updated: September 2026.
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