In
1992, the municipal government declared Irosin an agrarian
reform community because of its large “carpable”
area, strategic location, high concentration of agrarian
reform beneficiaries, and vocal non-government organizations,
people’s organizations and cooperatives. Irosin residents
welcomed the declaration, as it looked to be a step towards
their goal of equitable distribution of resources and opportunity
through agrarian reforms and rural development.
Municipal
government and residents immediately began to work on the
implementation of the program within their community. The
agrarian reform program has four components; namely, land
tenure improvement, institution building, productivity system
development, and rural infrastructure support. When the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) took on the land tenure
improvement role, municipal government and residents took
charge of implementing other aspects of the program. They
mobilized internal and external resources, packaged economic
projects for agrarian reform beneficiaries and convinced
private landowner to voluntarily offer their land for sale.
The unique multi-sectoral win-win approach provided opportunities
for working out mutually acceptable solutions to emotional
and heated issues of agrarian reform.
The
program improved the tenure status of 2,774 farmers covering
4,847 hectares of land. It has produced increased agricultural
productivity, an upsurge in income levels, and has intensified
people’s participation in community activities. In
standard agrarian reform accomplishment grading, Irosin
scored a 78 percent rating compared to the national average
of 63 percent. Thus far, Irosin is the only local government
unit in the country, which has successfully implemented
agrarian reform throughout the entire municipality.
