DAR intensifies campaign against hunger in WV
The Department of Agrarian Reform would intensify its campaign to mitigate hunger and ensure food security through the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) in Western Visayas.
DAR Support Services Office Assistant Secretary Atty. Milagros Isabel Cristobal, who spoke at the Project Documentation and Validation of ARBOs at the Nature’s Village Resort in Talisay City on May 11-12, said the objectives of EPAHP Program can be achieved by tapping more Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Organizations and partner agencies to forge a marketing agreements.
Cristobal urged the DAR provincial offices to convince more ARB cooperatives and district jails in the region to forge or renew marketing agreement relative to program implementation.
“EPAHP merits continuity in order to attain growth and sustainability and our ARBOs and partner agencies played a vital role for the full realization of the project’s objectives,” Cristobal said, adding, through the provision of support services with partner agencies like the EPAHP, the ARBOs are given access to market, which would result to the development not only in the community, but in the entire economy.
For her part, Assistant Regional Director Lucrecia Taberna commended the EPAHP implementation in Region VI that has started in 2017.
“The program was fully implemented on October 14, 2020, which covered all the provinces in Region VI after the signing of MOU between the agency through the Department of Agrarian Reform – Region VI and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and various Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations,” Taberna explained.
“As of this date, 44 ARBOs, more or less, are now engaging under the said project benefitting more than 1, 000 agrarian reform beneficiaries in Western Visayas. These include, 6 ARBOs in Aklan, 9 in Antique, 1 in Capiz, 2 in Guimaras, 6 in Iloilo, 15 in northern part of Negros Occidental and 5 in south Negros Occidental,” she added.
Since the implementation of the program, DAR recorded the highest marketing sales in 2021, amounting to PhP 3, 263, 269.44.
However, due to various factors such as typhoon Odette and the Corona Virus Disease 2019 pandemic, the crops of ARBOs were affected resulting to huge losses in terms of their income.
From more than PhP 3.2 million, ARBOs were able to generate income of PhP 283, 054.66 or a devastating drop of 91.33% as of March 25, 2022.
In order to help the ARBOs, Regional Director Sheila Enciso has assured the ARBOs that the agency would remain supportive to the needs of ARB organizations, wherein, DAR has been exploring all possible interventions or support services including the creation of various linkages or partnerships with public and private agencies that are willing to patronize ARBO products.
The EPAHP is one of the banner programs of the Inter-Agency Task Force Zero Hunger, created under Executive Order No. 101, which DAR entered into partnership with the BJMP for the sourcing of agricultural products from the agrarian reform beneficiaries for the consumption of the Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDL).
Present also during the said activity are representatives from the BJMP-National Headquarters, National Nutrition Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development and DAR Negros Occidental’s 1 and 2.
Meanwhile, on May 12, DAR together with representatives from the BJMP, Armed Forces of the Philippines and other stakeholders conducted an actual site validation at Sitio Flora Agrarian Reform Cooperative at Sitio Flora, Barangay Hilamonan in Kabankalan City.
