EVisayas seeks P55.45M for ARB livelihood
Credit to Author: EIREENE JAIREE GOMEZ| Date: Thu, 22 Aug 2019 17:38:18 +0000
THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Eastern Visayas said it needed a total of P55.45 million to finance about 120 various livelihood or micro-enterprise proposals that would benefit more than 2,000 agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) in the region.
In a statement, DAR Regional Director Sheila Enciso said the programs would be implemented under the Convergence on Livelihood Assistance for ARBs Project (Claap) of DAR-Eastern Visayas.
“Once the requested fund is downloaded from the Central Project Monitoring Unit, the DAR provincial offices can start with the procurement process and, at the same time, conduct the identified appropriate capacity development training specified in the respective project proposals,” Enciso said.
She explained the fund would be taken from the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) wherein P1 billion has been allocated for the successful implementation of the Claap.
Under the program, each cluster member will be provided with a seed capital of P15,000 to start a microenterprise based on the submitted livelihood proposal by their cluster, Enciso said.
Meanwhile, a separate P10,000 will be provided for the capacity development training to prepare the recipients in their livelihood venture, she added.
“This project is expected to improve household income of the farmers particularly the ARBs by expanding and increasing their access to economic opportunities,” said Enciso.
Of the total beneficiaries of the projects, 1,371 ARB members and Pantawid Pamilya recipients divided into 63 clusters are from Leyte.
The ARBs are expected to be engaged in hog raising, swine production, broiler and layer poultry production, fertilizers and pesticides trading, and rice trading.
Under Republic Act 6657 or the “Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Law,” DAR is mandated to help qualified ARBs uplift their economic lives. They range from individual agricultural workers to cooperatives.