Private sector representatives led by Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion met with the Department of Agrarian Reform Sec. Conrado Estrella III to find ways to help address agrarian challenges by facilitating the involvement of the private sector through land leasing arrangements.

“This initiative can give us a chance to increase investments in agricultural development, while providing farmers an additional revenue stream,” said Concepcion. The group comprises the private sector-led agriculture industry development initiative Kapatid Angat Lahat sa Agri Program (KALAP), which aims to raise agriculture productivity by harnessing the resources of the private sector to help small Filipino farmers.

Concepcion explained that the partnership with the private sector can provide support in clearing informal mortgages of the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) through negotiations with financial institutions. He added that the private sector can also aid in streamlining documentation processes while resolving title disputes to establish clear ownership arrangements.

Achieving economies of scale has been identified as a crucial factor in raising agricultural productivity in the country; 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 advised as 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 CLOAs (Certificates of Land Ownership Award) arrangement have already been awarded land titles, benefiting more than 98,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries.

As challenges continue to surround the issue of agrarian rights, Sec. Estrella noted the need to stabilize it by enhancing land tenure security. He added that 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 (SPLIT) project.

Acting on KALAP’s recommendations, Sec. Estrella instructed DAR’s 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.