CEBU CITY, Oct. 21 (PIA) -- Twelve Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations (ARBOs) from Central Visayas have started supplying the food needs of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the region.
This was disclosed by Chief of the Agrarian Reform Program Beneficiary Development Division of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR-7) Ferdinand Yu during a Straight from the Source interview conducted by the Philippine Information Agency 7.
According to Yu, DAR-7 inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP-7) for the latter to serve as institutional buyer of the products from the different ARBOs in Central Visayas.
Under the MOU, BJMP-7 will buy from the ARBOs vegetables, fruits, and other farm products which they will use in feeding the PDLs in various correctional facilities in the region.
Yu shared that during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, DAR's farmer beneficiaries struggled to market their farm produce to buyers and retailers due to the mobility restrictions set by the quarantine.
“This linkage is one of DAR’s Agrarian Beneficiaries Support Programs intended to ensure the sustainability of the livelihood of our organizations, especially now in the middle of a pandemic,” he said.
Yu said they continue to link more ARBOs with BJMP-7 under the MOU.
Meanwhile, DAR-7 has also organized market matching initiatives which benefitted a total of 62 ARBOs.
The said initiatives include market-on-wheels and partnerships with non-government organizations for pop-up market setups.
“This matching is done to ensure that their farm products are sold to sure buyers and will not be left to rot,” Yu said.
DAR-7 also initiated the distribution of supplemental food and non-food items to some 9,212 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in Central Visayas, of which 1,307 are from Bohol, 2,760 from Cebu, 4,943 from Negros Oriental, and 615 from Siquijor. (jkm/PIA7)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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