A total of forty-eight (48) technical staff of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from Ilocos, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Caraga regions have acquired additional skills on geotagging applications to help them monitor the status of support services projects implemented in far-flung areas within agrarian reform communities (ARCs) nationwide.
Atty. Milagros Isabel A. Cristobal, Undersecretary for Support Services Office (SSO), led the first batch of “Capacity Building for DAR Staff on the Operation of Geo-tagging Camera Application Software and Use of the Geo-mapping Google Platform of ARC-ARC Cluster” held in Davao City.
“Training on geotagging and geo-mapping is important in preparing relevant reports on ARC and ARC Cluster maps for integrated area development planning, project development, as well as monitoring and evaluation (M & E),” she said.
She said the DAR-SSO through the Climate-Resilient Farm Productivity Support Program (CRFPS) has recognized the need to adapt to new technologies to monitor and evaluate its projects for transparency and real-time monitoring.
The training aimed to equip the DAR staff with updated technology and upgrade their skills in geotagging and geo-mapping as applied in project monitoring and evaluation activities and in the preparation of ARC and ARC Cluster development plans.
Cristobal disclosed that the participants were trained on Global Positioning System (GPS)-based data acquisition, photo geotagging and organization, ARC mapping for data processing, sharing and dissemination to enable effective management and delivery of support services.
“Geo-tagging and geo-mapping technologies are standard requirements of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and other oversight agencies in the submission of project proposals for funding and in the sustainability monitoring of projects in line with evidence-based planning and project monitoring,” she added.
To accommodate participants in other regions and provinces, the activity will be held in three (3) different batches in Aklan on July 17-21, Palawan on July 31 to August 4 and Baguio on August 14-18.
####