THE Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) have forged a partnership to provide a sustainable food supply for the persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in Leyte.
"This program guarantees the farmers with a ready market for their products while the jails are assured of freshly harvested fruits and vegetables," said DAR Regional Director Ismael Aya-ay.
According to the official, the partnership is part of the government's Enhanced Partnership Against Hunger and Poverty (EPAHP) program, where government institutions work together to support poor people in the countryside through feeding programs in schools and provision of community meals for workers and laborers.
The program will benefit the city, district, and municipality jails in Leyte.
"Under the EPAHP, instead of buying food supplies elsewhere, the city, district, and municipality jails, as well as the Department of Health's-retained hospitals are encouraged to buy food supplies for the feeding of PDLs and hospital patients, from the agrarian cooperatives," added DAR Municipal Agrarian Reform Program Officer Amita Barte of Merida, Leyte.
Barte said the BJMP of Isabel town will purchase food supplies such as vegetables and poultry products from the Mat-e Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (Marba), a DAR-assisted farmer organization.
"The BJMP will buy Marba's products based on the prevailing market price, and the food supply will be picked up in a designated area," Barte said in a statement.
Marba is the 15th agrarian cooperative in the region "to be linked successfully" to an institutional buyer by the DAR under the EPAHP program.