NIRSAL To Insure 3.6 Million Farmers Against Post Harvest Losses

The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending plans to insure 3.6 million farmers nationwide in the next five years against post harvest losses.

The move is aimed at cushioning the negative impact of rainfalls on farmlands across various states in the country.

To this end, NIRSAL said it had developed insurance products for 1,476,289 smallholder farmers who have subscribed to its insurance products in past farming seasons.

The agric insurance will be executed through the development of insurance products like Hybrid Multi-Peril Crop Indemnity-Index Insurance product.

The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Aliyu Abdul-Hameed made this disclosure at the launch of the Hybrid Multi-Peril Crop Indemnity-Index Insurance product in Abuja. 

The insurance cover, he stated, speaks to the needs of smallholder farmers and the increase in the number of insurance companies that underwrite agricultural risks.

He noted that in developing agric insurance products, NIRSAL has entered into collaboration with both public and private sector underwriters.

NIRSAL, he added, had worked with the National Insurance Commission, to develop an index-based insurance product- the NIRSAL Area Yield Index Insurance product, which guarantees the income of the smallholder farmer by covering expected yield.

AYII was piloted during the 2017 wet season farming covering 17,000 farmers and 10,000 hectares with a harvest value of ₦3bn. 

The following year, NIRSAL developed the NIRSAL Comprehensive Index Insurance product.

While AY-II covers just yield risk, NC-II covers yield risk, market price risk, and life insurance. 

With regards to increasing the number of insurance companies that underwrite agricultural risk, Aliyu said NIRSAL has been able to bring in private insurance companies into the agric insurance space.

This, he said, was achieved through the formation of a consortium of four insurance companies which has now grown to ten insurance companies in the space of three years.

The Director of Development Finance Department at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Yusuf Yila, revealed that the apex bank had adopted NIRSAL’s Area Yield insurance products and looks forward to deploying the HM-II.

He expressed confidence that NIRSAL will continue to play a key role in the development finance functions of the CBN.