The Center for Agrarian Reform & Rural Development (CARRD) started out as a working group of farmers and professionals in 1987 whose main purpose was to respond to the technical needs of provincial and national peasant federations such as the Katipunan ng Samahang Magsasaka (KASAMA) and the Lakas ng Magsasakang Pilipino (LMP).They undertook research and advanced training for peasant leaders in the area of agrarian reform. They also engaged in policy campaigns that culminated in the historic nationwide “Agrarian Reform Express” in 1987 that helped pressure the government to pass a new agrarian reform law.
In 1988, the working group together with the leadership of KASAMA and LMP agreed to institutionalize their relationship. It was aimed at sustaining their joint efforts to advance the cause of agrarian reform and rural development and be of service to a broader segment of the rural population. This working group came to be known as the Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development or CARRD.
In 1995, CARRD was a pioneer in entering sugar estates in the Visayas – to organize sugarworkers for agrarian reform.
In the 1990s CARRD helped resettle farming families affected by the Mt. Pinatubo eruption, establishing the agrarian reform resettlement community of Dapla-Salaza. CARRD was awarded Best Agrarian Reform Community by the Department of Agrarian Reformin 1996.
Starting in 2000, CARRD begun to take cognizance of the reality that agrarian reform should not end in land redistribution, as farners tend to lose their lands if they are unable to make these lands productive and profitable. CARRD gradually developed expertise in rural enterprise, and in building farm-to-market product chains . Among these was a partnership with a farmer-cooperative (NAGKASAMA MPC) for a sugar marketing project and the commercial production of organic fertilizer. CARRD has also entered into value-chain partnerships in the production and marketing of organic rice and muscovado sugar.
Through CARRD’s organic rice production project with the Salngan Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi Purpose Cooperative (SARBMPC) in Iloilo, Brgy. Salngan was declared an organic farming community by the local government council in 2007.
Mission:
Be instrumental in the transformation of the rural poor into viable, vibrant, productive, gender-sensitive and environment-conscious rural communities.
Vision:
To become a Center of excellence and innovation in rural development, social entrepreneurship, policy research and advocacy.
Objectives:
1) Assist in the education, organization and mobilization of the peasantry for their legitimate interests and welfare.
CARRD has a continuing paralegal education program in the Panay Islands. A number of farmers from within the assisted community are identified and selected. They are made to undergo regular trainings on how to provide basic legal assistance to agrarian reform beneficiaries in the during land distribution process.
In 2007, the paralegal program in CARRD Visayas initiated the translation of the government-issued paralegal’s handbook, BATAS PARALEGAL into Hiligaynon, the local language in the Visayas Island.
2) Conduct policy studies that can provide theoretical guidance to the peasant movement in the advancement of their social and economic struggles.
Among the policy studies conducted by CARRD focused on collective farming in Hacienda Carmencita. Hacienda Carmencita is one of the10 sugar hacienda communities which CARRD has assisted in Capiz province, helping landless sugarworkers acquire their own lands. This action-research study assessed the viability of collective farming as a means to help sugarworkers in their transition from being daily wage earners, to family-based owner-cultivators under the agrarian reform program.
3) Provide assistance to the farmers’ group to enable them to avail of appropriate rural technology and other support services designed to increase agricultural productivity and income within the framework of sustainable agriculture.
CARRD is implementing sustainable agriculture in the production of rice and sugarcane across all its assisted areas. One of its assisted areas, Brgy. Salngan, was declared an organic farming community through a 2007 barangay council resolution.
CARRD also provides technical support to farmers’ groups and agrarian reform communities in the establishment of rural agricultural enterprises. These enterprises include the production and marketing of sugar, organic fertilizer, organic rice and muscovado. Support comes in the forms of credit provision, low-priced organic fertilizer, trainings on production enhancement, good manufacturing practices and linkaging with distributors and the market.
4) Establish collaborative linkages with private and government individuals, groups and movements to sustain the abovementioned goals.
CARRD is a member of the networks for the advancement of the rural poor such as Philippine Partnership for Human Resources and Development in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA), Partnership of Philippine Support Services Agencies, Inc and Reform CARP Movement.
CARRD also coordinates with, and is recognized by the local governments in all areas where it operates. This allows CARRD’s active participation in the crafting of local laws and regulations within the local governments thereby ensuring proper representation of the farmers and agrarian reform beneficiaries.
CARRD is an active member of the National Agriculture and Fisheries Council (NAFC), the highest policy making body of the Department of Agiculture (DA). CARRD Board member Oscar Castillo is the farmer-representative and also chairperson of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Committee of Batangas Province, as appointed by the President of the Philippines.
Activities/Main areas of work:
Land Tenure Improvement – CARRD currently implements this program in the provinces of Batangas, Capiz and Iloilo through its trained paralegals. A paralegal is a person who undergoes paralegal training and has basic knowledge of legal work. He is expected to assist in the legal needs of the farmers and mediate between landowners and farmers during the process of land redistribution. Paralegal in its broad sense is synonymous to a legal assistant.
Cooperative Development – CARRD established and continues to assist the following cooperatives: NAGKASAMA MPC in Batangas (1989), United Cabangan Multi Purpose Cooperative in Zambales (2005) PROARBMPC in Capiz and KASAPPI in Iloilo (both in 2007). CARRD sees to it that these cooperatives satisfy the legal requirements such as registration with the Cooperative Development Authority. CARRD also provides linkages with government like the Land Bank of the Philippines which provides regular capacity-building trainings and workshops. These are usually conducted together with the annual evaluation and planning sessions of the cooperatives. Credit assistance to farmers is routed through these cooperatives.
Agricultural Productivity –CARRD is an advocate of the Sustainable Agriculture which encompasses the principles of social acceptability, economically viable, environmentally sound and gender sensitive.
In addressing these while still ensuring that farm income and soil fertility are not sacrificed, CARRD started its organic fertilizer production project in Batangas in 2000. These are then distributed to assisted farmers for an affordable price. The said project was then expanded to Zambales, Capiz and Iloilo.
Organic rice production was likewise started in Iloilo. CARRD provided technical support such as the construction of a solar dryer. The organic rice produce are then sold to a major distributor of organic products supplying the Philippine market.
Considering the increasing demand for muscovado and the loss of profits suffered by sugarcane farmers from the high cost of milling sugarcane in large and established sugar mills, CARRD decided to set up its own muscovado mill in Batangas in 2008. The technology used was provided for by the Department of Science and Technology, which is a first in the country. CARRD has partnered with the Philippine Development Assistance Program in providing the required training on Good Manufacturing Practices for mill personnel.
Networking & Advocacy – CARRD is a member of the Reform CARP Movement, a broad coalition lobbying for the passage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program with reforms (CARPER). The RCM holds mass mobilizations and round table discussions with the Department of Agrarian Reform, farmers and other stakeholders.
Lobbying through meetings with members of the Congress to gain support for the enactment of the CARPER are being set up. Members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines are also assisting RCM in exerting pressure on the legislators.
Rural Enterprises Development – Presently, CARRD is implementing is sugar marketing project in Western Batangas. Under this project, instead of going to middlemen, the sugarcane farmers directly market their sugar produce. CARRD also provides technical and marketing assistance to the organic rice production of farmers in Iloilo.
Membership/Affiliations:
– Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PHILDHRRA)
– Partnership of Philippines Support Services Agencies, Inc.(PHILSSA)
– Women’s Action Network for Development (WAND)
– AR NOW! People’s Campaign for Agrarian Reform Network
