By Mary May A. Abellon
“We
cannot have a society where a few flourish and the rest just make do with
crumbs. We must have inclusive growth,” so declared President Benigno S. Aquino
III when he assumed as the 15th President of the republic.
President
Aquino seeks to achieve within his term an equitable economic growth not only
in the urban centers but in the countryside as well.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
is one of the government agencies tasked with taking the lead in responding to
the President’s goal of inclusive economic growth. With the implementation of
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), DAR focuses on land tenure
improvement, agrarian justice, and coordinated delivery of essential support
services to client-beneficiaries.
ARCCESS
To
enhance agricultural productivity in the country, DAR has embarked on a program
dubbed Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS)
in 2011 with special allocation from the Department of Budget and Management
(DBM). This program aims to increase agricultural production by providing the
farmers with the needed support from land preparation, planting to harvesting
and marketing.
With
professional services and common service facilities provided by the government,
ARCCESS
would enable the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to increase their produce
in order that they meet their consumption needs and to have some surplus as
well.
The
program also considers the capacity, capital and equipment requirements for the
different crops and commodities such as rice, corn, sugar, coconut, banana,
cassava, fruit trees and high yielding crops.
Common Service Facilities
Common
Service Facilities (CSFs) is one intervention provided by DAR under the ARCCESS
program for ARBs. It is implemented through a cooperative or farmers’
associations.
“This
is a kind of grant with minimal counterpart from farmers and that agricultural
equipment and machineries are provided by the department to the beneficiaries
depending on the need of certain equipment,” ARCESS point person for DAR-ZN
Reynaldo Manigos said in an interview.
“ARBs
may request equipment and machineries they need such as threshers, dryers,
shellers, automatic planters, sprayers, coffee roasters, cassava granulators,
tractors and hauling trucks,” Mr. Manigos added.
However,
CSFs can only be given if the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations
(ARBOs) are ready to manage and optimize the use of the equipment.
Manigos
further said the beneficiaries have to provide for the manpower, equipment
warehouse, insurance policy, registration and operational expenses.
Community-Based Enterprise Organizers
(CBEOs)
To
provide the beneficiaries with professional services is another intervention under
the ARCCESS program. DAR will hire professionals as Community-Based Enterprise
Organizers (CBEOs) to assist farmers in the operation and management of their
cooperatives or businesses for two years.
Agricultural
Extension Technicians will also be hired to assist the farmers in farm
production technology.
ARRCCESS
primarily addresses the need for production assets of ARC-ARBOs Agrarian Reform
Community-Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARC-ARBOS), employing
creative support services approach which has a two-pronged objective:
agricultural productivity and agri-enterprise development.
CBEO
shall develop a business plan and manage the CSFs, coach the ARBs on
agri-enterprise planning and management, create business units composed of ARBOs
that will manage the CSFs and build the capacity of ARBO business units to take
over the management of the CSFs.
DAR
will finance the cost of equipment and facilities including the cost of BDS and
CBEO engagement.
The
Beneficiaries
Agrarian
Reform Communities (ARCs) with foreign funds are disqualified from the program.
In Zamboanga del Norte, the first batch
of ARBs to receive various equipment and machineries were coming from the
municipalities of Polanco, Mutia, Roxas, Godod and Sindangan.
ARBs
of Siari Valley of Sindangan and those from the municipalities of Piñan and
Tampilisan are the second batch to receive the equipment and machineries.
The
third batch to receive such equipment and machineries will be the ARBs from
Siocon town.
“The beneficiaries were so happy to receive
those equipment and machineries as that was their first time to have them,”
Manigos said. (PIA9)