DAR, DSWD to increase 36k farmers’ income through livelihood projects

To be executed over three years by DAR and DSWD, the CLAAP project targets to benefit 36,000 farmer beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as well as non-ARBs. (File Photo by Redjie Melvic Cawis / PIA-CAR via PNA)

MANILA – Household incomes of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), small holder farmers and farmworkers will soon get a boost as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) partnered to roll out programs and activities to develop and improve farmers’ agri-business enterprises.

The programs and activities jumpstarted with the conduct of a three-day program orientation for the “Convergence on Livelihood Assistance for Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Project” (CLAAP) at the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) on Sept. 4-6.

DAR Undersecretary for Support Services Emily Padilla, who heads the CLAAP implementation, said under the partnership program, the DSWD allocated and transferred to DAR PHP1 billion for the implementation of the program.

“In collaboration with DAR, the DSWD will provide technical assistance in the review and approval of livelihood project proposals by the regions,” Padilla said.

“DAR, for its part, allotted PHP186 million worth of its manpower, technical and management skills and the cost of series of capacity building training for the farmers,” she explained.

To be executed over three years by DAR and DSWD, the CLAAP project targets to benefit 36,000 farmer beneficiaries of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) as well as non-ARBs.

The project will be implemented in 73 provinces within various agrarian reform communities (ARCs) and agrarian reform areas throughout the country.

The DAR will be responsible for the implementation activities including planning, supervision, and procurement of materials for the establishment/assistance of farmers’ agri-businesses.

Padilla said the CLAAP project would develop at least 1,200 enterprises and the 36,000 farmers provided with seed funds for their agri-enterprise.

The implementation of CLAAP started on December 2017 and will end on December 2019.

Padilla said that by the completion of CLAAP in December 2019, “we expect that 36,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and non-ARBs, of which 30 percent are women, are already operating and managing viable livelihood projects. These agri-businesses are expected to earn for them additional household income.”

“To ensure its success, we will continuously monitor and evaluate the establishment and development of each agri-business of the farmers,” she said.