DAR mulls more agrarian reform zones

The expansion in delivering support services to farmer-beneficiaries is now under the program target of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Called Kalahi Agrarian Reform (Kalahi ARZ), it is patterned after the agrarian reform community (ARC) concept developed in 1993.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan aims to establish at least one Kalahi ARZ per province and shall cover one or more municipalities in a district.

The idea of Kalahi ARZ is to empower ARCs and agrarian reformed barangays which allow support services to reach agrarian reformed barangays within the ARCs can be covered in a Kalahi ARZ, Pagdanganan explained.

To facilitate the identification of other adjacent agrarian reformed barangays to be covered by the program, the type of Kalahi ARZ to be established should be a primary consideration, Pagdanganan added.

"A Kalahi ARZ will serve as convergence area for CARP-related planning and operations of DAR, other CARP-implementing agencies, local government units (LGUs), the private sector, non-government organizations, and people’s organizations," Pagdanganan said.

Within the Kalahi ARZ framework, DAR would still lead in the provision of support services – such as basic rural infrastructure, institutional strengthening and technical assistance – to farmer-beneficiaries, but within a delineated area identified through mapping.

The adoption of integrated mapping system will be imposed on a municipal or provincial map to determine the bounda-ries of the proposed Kalahi ARZ within a province. Mapping system may include a) agricultural area, land-use area, and area of major crops; b) CARP-covered areas; c) political boundaries of congressional districts; and d) location of ARCs.

Kalahi ARZ is a sub-provincial area comprising of one or more municipalities with critical mass of ARBs and farming households. The different types of Kalahi ARZ include: 1) Nucleus/Agro-Industrial Estate Zone; 2) Network of Specialized Production Zone; and 30 Integrated Production, Post Harvest and Marketing Zones.

The Kalahi ARZ strategy involves the development of integrated models to hasten the transformation of ARCs and outlying areas into viable agro-industrial zones.

It is a holistic approach where all government line agencies are rallied to work out a development strategy for CARP-covered areas. The strategy will be tied up with the municipal and provincial development plans and programs, all geared up toward reducing inequality in the distribution of incomes and urban-rural imbalances in economic opportunities.

Ultimately, Pagdanganan said the main objective of Kalahi ARZ is to elevate ARCs and adjacent areas to a higher level of development, which would redound to improved farm productivity and increased household incomes for a greater number of farmers.

"This can be done by institutionalizing effective linkages with private sector, NGOs and other government entities for resource mobilization and access of specific development requirements of ARCs and the Kalahi ARZ," he said.

"Since a Kalahi ARZ covers a much larger area, development intervention will be intensified. While development of Kalahi ARZ gets underway, new ARCs will continue to be established until their number reaches 2,000 by 2004, the target set under the Arroyo administration," he added.

At present, 1,415 ARCs have been established nationwide, covering 5,098 barangays in 1,002 municipalities. These ARCs cover 695,363 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs).

Kalahi was designed by Arroyo administration to provide converged services to the poorest communities utilizing the following strategies: asset reform, human development services, employment and livelihood opportunities, participation in governance of the basic sectors, and social protection and security against violence.