June 17, 2015
Sugaronline | http://goo.gl/ww6FkU
Fourteen Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) in Cadiz City and Manapla in Negros Occidental are under evaluation for eligibility in the Inclusive Partnerships for Agricultural Competitiveness (IPAC) Project to be funded by the World Bank (WB), said Milagros Flores, northern Negros Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer (PARPO) I, according to the Philippines' Visayan Daily Star newspaper.
She hopes that the 14 ARBOs will also become part of the proposed North Negros Sugar Cane Agrarian Reform Communities Cluster, which is a requirement for IPAC eligibility, Flores said, in an interview during a Multi-Sectoral Consultation Workshop for the WB-Funded IPAC Project at Northland Resort Hotel in Manapla.
Because the various ARBOs in northern Negros belong to the cluster, more beneficiaries and their organizations can share in the project and the support that it can provide, Flores said.
Meanwhile, Mercy Lagaña, Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Officer for Region VI, said poverty reduction and agri-business development are IPAC's objectives.
The grants, loans and soft projects under IPAC are intended to improve access to markets and enhance small farmers' competitiveness, she said.
IPAC is also viewed by DAR as a means to improve the private-public partnerships among the farmer-beneficiaries, non-government organizations, private businesses and other investors, and government agencies, she added.
Lagaña said that establishing farm-to-market roads is just one of the government's projects which are in line with IPAC's goals.
She also reported that P4,358,483 loaned from the WB will make up 42.93% of the P10,154,392 total budget for the IPAC Project. The national government will put in P4,543,099 or 44.74% of the total amount, local government units will allot P20,449 or 0.20%, and farmers' organizations will contribute 1,232,000 or 12.13%, Lagaña said.
Distribution of land is not the sole task of DAR. It must also provide services to help agrarian reform beneficiaries flourish and become economically productive and sustainable, Teresita Mabunay, northern Negros PARPO II, said.
DAR officials, ARBO delegates, and other were among the participants of the Multi-Sectoral Consultation Workshop for the WB-Funded IPAC Project.