THE DEPARTMENT of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) said they have agreed to jointly sponsor a program to supply food to detainees in Tarlac.
The program, known as the Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP), will work with four agrarian reform beneficiary organizations (ARBOs) in Tarlac to deliver agricultural products to the BJMP, which will serve as an institutional buyer.
“The DAR will assist and empower the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) and their ARBOs to increase their production and engagement in agri-based and related enterprises,” DAR provincial officer Jocelyn O. Ramones said.
The program will assure ARBOs of a steady market, with the BJMP making regular purchases of vegetables and eggs to feed persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
“The project has a two-way benefit, both for the farmers, for them to get better returns of their investment, and for the PDL consumers, who will have access to better-quality food products,” she added.
Ms. Ramones said the DAR hopes to explore more institutional markets, like government hospitals and military camps, in order to forge marketing agreements in support of ARBO products.
The EPAHP is a program of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, which hopes to provide food security and nutrition to the poor, enhance agricultural production, and establish sustainable agriculture by 2030.
The ARBOs involved are Ginintuang BUTIL Farmers Association in San Juan de Mata, Tarlac City; Bacabac Farmers Producers Cooperative in Bacabac, Camiling; San Sotero PMPC in Sta. Ignacia, Tarlac and San Agustin Agrarian Reform Farmers Association in Victoria, Tarlac. — Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
