A step towards agricultural prosperity, DAR Caraga launches Alegria-Tubod-Mainit (ATM) agrarian reform community cluster; turns over P 12.4-M worth of FMEs

In a significant demonstration of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) upholding its promise to support sustainable agriculture and uplifting the lives of local farmers, the Regional Office of Caraga and Provincial Office of Surigao del Norte has launched the Alegria, Tubod, Mainit (ATM) Agrarian Reform Community Cluster (ARCC) on June 14, 2024, at the LGU Women’s Center in the municipality of Alegria.

To preface, the ARC development strategy, adopted in 1993, is an integrated approach to complement land distribution with interventions designed to improve the productivity of the land and the farmers through support services, and further agrarian justice.

This strategy was later enhanced through the ARC Cluster system which focused on cluster(s) of ARCs within a province where there is a critical mass of beneficiaries.

As such, launching the ATM ARCC, which was approved in December 2023 by the National Agrarian Reform Community Task Force (NARCTF), signified the beginning of a strengthened agrarian support approach for the 4,646 farmer beneficiaries of Alegria, Tubod, and Mainit.

Other key participants for this significant milestone of the ATM area who partook in the MOA signing included officials of the local government units such as the congressional district, provincial governor, and municipal mayors’ representatives.

Line agencies of DAR, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of Trade and Industries (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Technical Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Provincial Agricultural Office, Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), Surigao del Norte State University (SNSU), and the Provincial Tourism Office also signed their pledges to do their respective roles in the holistic development of the ATM ARCC.

Undersecretary of the Support Services Office, Rowena Niña O. Taduran, who was present for the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing expressed, “This day is not just a simple turnover of facilities or launching of the ATM Agrarian Reform