THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has joined hands with two other government agencies in a bid to adequately provide rural folks the much-needed support services to spur rural development.
DAR Secretary Gil de los Reyes said his office is working closely with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to rationalize the provision of support services, making sure that “we complement each other.”
“The bottom line is for the three agencies to put down what budget we have and see how we can work together with that budget by determining our common areas and the kind of interventions each agency can deliver,” De los Reyes said.
The DAR chief said the move, dubbed as “Convergence Initiative Towards Sustainable Rural Development,” would help maximize every intervention delivered and avoid wastage of public funds, while encouraging farmer-beneficiaries to produce more.
“After all, we are serving the same public, the same set of farmers, whether they are on private or public lands. So, it’s only but logical for us to work together in terms of extending development interventions to our intended beneficiaries. That’s what we’re trying to do now with DA and DENR – show all our cards,” De los Reyes said.
De los Reyes raised the idea to ensure coordination among all concerned government agencies in the delivery of support services.
“Let’s say the DAR is putting up a farm-to-market road. Now, we’ll ask the DA and the DENR what they can offer so that the road can be utilized to its fullest potential,” he added. -30- PAS, DAR
