DARPO-Cagayan Evaluates 90 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Organizations under IT-eASy (ITEMA) Assessment

Tuguegarao City, Cagayan - The Department of Agrarian Reform Provincial Office (DARPO) Cagayan has successfully completed the Information Technology-enabled Maturity Assessment System (IT-eASy, formerly ITEMA) for 90 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries’ Organizations (ARBOs) across the province, marking a milestone in assessing organizational maturity, sustainability, and capacity for enterprise growth.

The IT-eASy (ITEMA) is a digitalized monitoring and evaluation tool developed by DAR to determine the readiness and maturity level of ARBOs in managing agribusiness enterprises. It measures five key areas-Governance, Organizational Management, Resource Management, Enterprise Development, and Financial Performance - to classify cooperatives into five maturity levels, from Level 1 (Emerging) to Level 5 (Sustaining).

16 ARBOs Achieve Maturity Level 5

Out of the 90 ARBOs assessed in Cagayan, 16 organizations reached the highest Maturity Level 5, signifying strong institutional stability, operational excellence, and sustainable enterprise performance.

Leading the list is the Nararagan Valley Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Ballesteros), which topped the province with a score of 73 points. Other high-performing ARBOs include:

*Villarey ARB Cooperative (Piat) – 70.3

*Concepcion Agrarian Reform Cooperative (Amulung) – 70.1

*Payagan Farmers Cooperative (Ballesteros) – 70

*Sunrise Multi-Purpose Cooperative (Gattaran) – 67.5

*Maguing Farmers MPC (Gonzaga) – 66.3

*Calayan Samahang Nayon MPC (Gonzaga) – 66.2

*Cabayabasan Farmers Credit Cooperative (Lal-lo) – 65.5

  and several others that showed exceptional enterprise management.

22 ARBOs at Level 4, 34 at Level 3

Meanwhile, 22 ARBOs were classified under Maturity Level 4, demonstrating consistent growth but still requiring further development in governance and enterprise scaling. 34 ARBOs landed at Level 3, indicating progressing organizations that are in the consolidation phase of enterprise management.

 Emerging ARBOs: Levels 1 and 2

A total of 18 ARBOs fell under Levels 1 and 2, representing emerging and developing organizations that need strengthened capacity building, financial literacy, and market linkage interventions. DARPO-Cagayan will provide focused technical assistance and organizational strengthening programs to help these cooperatives improve their performance and sustainability.

Strengthening Agrarian Reform Enterprise Development

DARPO-Cagayan Provincial Agrarian Reform Program Officer II Val M. Cristobal emphasized that the ITEMA results are vital in planning future interventions for ARBOs under the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development and Sustainability Program (ARBDSP).

“The IT-eASy assessment allows us to identify where our ARBOs stand in terms of governance, operations, and business viability. It helps us design the right support packages—whether capacity building, market linkages, or enterprise financing,” PARPO II Cristobal said.

The DAR’s ITEMA initiative supports the national goal of empowering agrarian reform beneficiaries toward self-reliant, business-oriented, and resilient cooperatives capable of sustaining rural livelihoods and contributing to local economic development.

 

DARPO starts IT-based assessment tool for ARCs and ARBOs

The Department of Agrarian Reform Provincial Office of Cagayan has started to conduct a series of information technology-enabled assessment system (IT-eASy) for agrarian reform communities (ARCs) and agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs), to determine their level or stages of development. The IT-eASy is a tool used by the Department of Agrarian Reform to gauge the organizational maturity of each agrarian reform community (ARC) and agrarian reform and beneficiaries’ organization (ARBO).

There is a need to assess the level of organizational maturity of the ARBOs for the DAR to determine the outcomes of the basic and advance interventions that has been provided to these groups in terms of land tenure improvement, agrarian justice delivery and delivery of support services.

By assessing their maturity, it will reflect the effectivity of DAR's support interventions and what needs to be improved or if needed, a more tailor-fit approach anchored on the needs of the farmer organizations and their communities. ARBOs with a high maturity score may also be given the opportunity to receive greater support services from DAR, that is, based the ability and competency of the ARBOs to successfully manage the programs and projects aimed at increasing productivity and income.