This is not a solitary Jordanian battle; the world witnessed a profound transformation in wheat production with the "Green Revolution" during the twentieth century, and the Japanese variety "Norin 10" played a pivotal role in developing "semi-dwarf" wheat varieties, which benefited from fertilizer and irrigation technologies, and contributed to increasing agricultural productivity on a global scale. Since that historical shift, wheat power has no longer been linked solely to land area, but has become dependent on science, technology, seed preservation, and resource management.
Hence, the nature of power in the modern wheat equation becomes clear: it does not lie in possessing the seed alone, but in possessing the entire food system; from scientific research and gene banks, to water and fertilizers, from fields and silos, to transportation, financing, and markets.
Recent global crises have revealed the fragility of this system when exposed to successive shocks; the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and disruptions in Red Sea navigation have shown that the disruption of any part of the supply chains can quickly transition from a transportation crisis or price increase to a direct challenge to internal stability. Therefore, the real question for importing countries is no longer just about how much they produce, but their institutional ability to withstand and reposition when trade routes are disrupted.
From this perspective, "food sovereignty" in the Jordanian case can be understood; it does not necessarily mean that Jordan produces everything it consumes - an objective that is hindered by limited water resources - but rather means possessing the proactive ability to secure food in both normal and exceptional circumstances.
This ability is based on interconnected strategic elements: a safe and sustainable strategic reserve, sufficient and geographically distributed storage capacities, network diversification of import sources, expandable local production, protection of genetic resources and seed development, along with an early warning system that monitors global markets and supply movements, and helps in making sovereign decisions before the crisis escalates.
Thus, food sovereignty does not start when a crisis erupts, or when a shipment of wheat arrives at the port, but begins years before in the laboratory, seed bank, field, silo, transportation networks, import policies, and geopolitical information systems.
We may not be able to prevent global storms, but we can build solid barriers to prevent them from turning into a bread crisis. Herein lies the value of wheat in the sovereignty equation: its strength is not in being a "weapon" in the direct military sense, but in the ability to secure it, which gives the state a broader scope to protect its stability and independence of decision when markets are disrupted and trade maps change.
Oil gives the economy the ability to move, while food gives society the ability to endure. In an era of accelerating climatic, economic, and geopolitical crises.
