DAR, MAFAR join forces to bolster agrarian reform in Bangsamoro region

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), through its Office for Mindanao Affairs (OMA), and the Bangsamoro government, through the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Agrarian Reform (MAFAR) initiated the drafting of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate and share resources on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Last Tuesday, November 28, 2023, the MOU was signed by Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III for DAR, and Ahod B. Ebrahim for BARMM.

The signing of the policy framework between Secretary Estrella III and BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim is an important milestone as BARMM established a partnership with the DAR for the first time since the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law in 1988.

With an aggregated 103,344.58 hectares available for distribution in Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and in Special Geographic Areas, 65,379 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), 280 ARB organizations, and 110 agrarian reform communities, Estrella pledges close coordination with the Bangsamoro government to successfully implement the agency’s main programs including land distribution, agrarian justice delivery, and provision of support services.

Anticipating the Presidential Agrarian Reform Committee convention this 2024, the DAR Secretary plans to secure additional funding for support services in the Bangsamoro region, promising more infrastructure projects, farm machinery and equipment, and agricultural inputs for the people.

“We will also provide new agricultural technologies and introduce more modern and scientific ways of farming to BARMM’s farmer-beneficiaries,” he added.

BARMM Chief Minister Ahod B. Ebrahim envisions the MOU as the cornerstone of the Bangsamoro region’s agrarian reform program, strengthening its implementation as it aligns with their priority agenda which emphasizes boosting the value-chain in ensuring rural development, bolstering regional food security, and strengthening agri-fisheries production to improve the socio-economic lives of the farmers and their families.

OMA Undersecretary Amihilda J. Sangcopan said that the