Niger: Stakeholders brainstorm on farmer-friendly insurance policies

Niger: Stakeholders brainstorm on farmer-friendly insurance policies

By Rita Iliya

Minna, June 13, 2024 (NAN) Stakeholders have come together to brainstorm on ways insurance firms can provide friendly insurance policies for farmers to avoid total losses after natural disasters.

Dr Ken Ukaoha, President, National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), said this during the NANTS/AGRA stakeholders workshop on “Enhancing Agricultural Resilience through Farmer-centric Insurance Products’, in Minna on Thursday.
.
The theme of the workshop was” Improving farmers’ Resilience and Upscaling Productivity, Incomes, and Livelihood in Rice, Maize, Soyabean, Cowpea and Vegetable Value Chain in Niger’.

Ukaoha explained that the ongoing agricultural revolution by the Niger government necessitated the critical stakeholders to come together to brainstorm on how to protect the government and farmers’ investment.

“Niger Governor has embarked on massive investments in agriculture with the cultivation of 10,000 hectares in each 25 local government areas.

“Therefore, for the government and farmers to reap from their investments, they must be insured against natural disasters, this will also bring about food security.

“The workshop will discuss why farmers are afraid to insure their crops and why insurance firms are afraid to insure farmers, all these issues will be reviewed and refined,” he said.

In his remarks, Dr Mattew Ahmed, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Agriculture, described the workshop “as apt”, saying that the state government was investing about N50 billion in agriculture in the wet season.

He said the workshop would sensitise the farmers on the importance of insurance in case of disasters like flood, droughts, fire and pests’ infestation of which only insurance can cover their losses.

Ahmed disclosed that only 2 per cent of the farmers in Niger were insuring their crops and called on them  to key into the insurance policy.

Similarly, Mr Godswill Agwuyi, representative of Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said the organisation was working to improve the lives of smallholder farmers through access to credits and finance.

Also, Malam Idris Abini, the Chairman of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Niger, disclosed that its members benefited N16 million from an insurance firm in 2018 and 2019.

He promised to sensitise RIFAN members on the importance of insurance, its benefits and the need to key into it. (NAN) (www.nannews,ng)
RIS/BRM

============

Edited by Bashir Rabe Mani