EDITORIAL - Continuing agrarian reform

The government has reassured the public that land distribution to farmers will continue even if the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program has ended. Funding has been set aside for CARP-related activities this year, and more funds will be appropriated in 2015, according to the government.

As important as land distribution is farm support. CARP was hampered not only by the loophole injected by landowning lawmakers into the agrarian reform law, which allowed them to hold on to their large agricultural estates, but also by the weakness of farm support services for CARP beneficiaries.

For agrarian reform to succeed, it must include improved irrigation systems, farming and fertilizer support, infrastructure upgrading and assistance in marketing. Farmers need access to mills at reasonable prices. These support services were lacking in many areas, and a number of CARP beneficiaries ended up selling their farmlands.

Large agricultural estates may be more efficient and productive, but CARP beneficiaries can be assisted in forming cooperatives and pooling resources to boost productivity and earnings. The country is still largely agricultural, with millions of the poorest Filipinos working in farms. Empowering them by giving them their own land to till cannot be given low priority by any leader who seriously hopes to make a dent against poverty.

This can be accompanied by a general improvement in agricultural production. While agriculture accounts for a large chunk of economic growth figures, the country lags behind many of its neighbors in this area. Making agrarian reform work is a good way of narrowing the gap.