Agribusiness Venture Arrangements (AVAs) in the Philippines have had a significant impact on Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs), with some benefiting while others have not reaped the advantages of land ownership. This necessitates an examination of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)’s institutional and regulatory environments of AVA—specifically lease arrangement—and how it can be strengthened using an integrated conceptual framework of Coleman’s (1987, 1990) boat model and Denhardt and Denhardt’s (2000) New Public Service (NPS) model. Using Dyball and Newell’s (2015) Causal Loop Diagram (CLD), the study plots proposed solutions to address the institutional constraints in the AVA implementation.

The findings reveal that DAR’s weak implementation of AVA is due to its classification as an “activity” rather than a legitimized program. Thus, it is imperative that recognizing AVA as a program would result in dedicated budget allocation or targets that need to be met annually. It would have a crucial role in enhancing DAR’s capacity and authority. Nonetheless, improvements within DAR alone are insufficient for AVA success. Transformations in the political-economic landscape of the agri-agra industry, agricultural land management, and among ARBs are necessary.

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