News in brief:
– The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security plans to integrate an insurance feature into the NAGS-AP program to protect farmers from risks caused by unpredictable weather.
– It has set up a joint working committee to develop the framework for this insurance scheme.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has announced plans to integrate an insurance feature into the $134 million National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket Program (NAGS-AP) intervention program.
In a tweet via its official page on Friday, the ministry explained that the aim is to enhance sustainability and food security.
The program, being financed by the federal government and the African Development Bank (AfDB), originally targets providing enhanced access to quality and affordable agricultural inputs to 5 million farmers.
Sen. Abdullahi Sabi Aliyu, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, mentioned that integrating the Agricultural Insurance Scheme into the NAGS-AP will protect the investments and interventions. He said that, particularly, the insurance will protect farmers from risks arising from unpredictable weather that can lead to floods, droughts, pests, and diseases which can cause crop failure or harvest losses.
To drive the point home, Aliyu reminded the audience of the ginger blight that caused more than 90% loss for farmers in Kaduna the previous year. He said that only farmers who took insurance protection were able to bounce back and return to farming without dipping into personal funds and savings.
The 2024 Annual Flood Outlook report by the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation predicts that 148 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in 31 states are high flood-risk areas, while 249 LGAs in 36 States and the FCT fall within moderate flood-risk areas.
Thus, about 51% of Nigeria’s farming areas are at a risk of flooding, making climate protection essential, the minister added.
However, besides the insurance plan, Aliyu adds that the Renewed Hope Agenda is deploying climate-smart agriculture as a means for beneficiary farmers to adapt to climate change.
The ministry has set up a joint working committee to develop a framework for the insurance scheme to be integrated into the NAGS-AP program. This committee includes representatives from the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) and Pula Advisors Limited, an agriculture insurance and technology company.
This committee will organize an educational program on agricultural insurance for stakeholders to inform them on its features and benefits.
Speaking at the same event, the National Project Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP), Mr. Isiaku Buba said that the insurance component will be tested by experienced partnering insurance experts (NAIC and Pula).
Other industry stakeholders in attendance included representatives from the All Farmers Association (AFAN), USAID, REX Insurance, and NAIDA.
