Private sector representatives behind the agriculture industry development initiative Kapatid Angat Lahat sa Agri Program (KALAP) have proposed to the government land leasing arrangements to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) to unlock the potential of the latter’s properties.
The group led by Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion proposed this to Secretary Conrado Estrella III of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in a recent meeting meant to help address agrarian challenges.
Concepcion said the involvement of the private sector through land leasing arrangements “can give us a chance to increase investments in agricultural development while providing farmers an additional revenue stream.”
Concepcion explained the partnership can provide support in clearing informal mortgages of the ARBs through negotiations with financial institutions.
He added the private sector can also aid in streamlining documentation processes while resolving title disputes to establish clear ownership arrangements.
KALAP has stressed the importance of economies of scale in raising agricultural productivity but achieving this has been hindered by land titling issues as well as the small and discrete farmlands, some of which were parceled out to ARBs in previous attempts at land reform.
KALAP said the initial step is to identify the ARBs who are willing to partner with its big-brother companies to initiate and expedite land leasing arrangements.
According to the DAR, more than 109,000 hectares of land that were under the Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) arrangement have been awarded land titles, benefiting more than 98,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries.
As challenges continue to surround the issue of agrarian rights, Estrella noted the need to enhance land tenure security.
He added collective CLOAs are now being subdivided into small farm lots to grant the beneficiaries full ownership and possession of their land shares through the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling project.
Acting on KALAP’s recommendations, Estrella instructed DAR regional officers, DAR legal, field operators, and select heads of the agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) to meet with KALAP.
The DAR is also planning to organize a master list/directory of KALAP’s members to facilitate linkages with DAR regional heads and ARBOs.
