RESEARCH PAPER SERIES
by Marife M. Ballesteros, Jenica A. Ancheta, and Tatum P. Ramos
This study evaluates the performance of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in the last 30 years using the program's theory of change. The accomplishments of CARP in terms of land reformed area and number of beneficiaries for the past 30 years have been substantial. However, there is evidence that the program has been poorly targeted in terms of areas covered and beneficiaries. While the implementation of the program may have been flawed, there is no need to redo the CARP. Instead, the government should focus on supporting agricultural modernization programs that benefit small farmers such us scaling up promising arrangements (e.g., block farming, agribusiness venture arrangements). On the other hand, issues on land consolidation, land ownership concentration, or land conversion can be better addressed by converging the efforts of land agencies and digitizing land management and administration.
