By Abdulfatah Babatunde
A consortium of four agricultural insurance companies, led by PULA Advisors AG, has paid N110 million to some Nigerian farmers as compensation in respect of their harvest losses.
TheNewsZenith reports that PULA Advisors AG, in partnership with Leadway ⁷Assurance Company Limited, Heifer International and AFEX Commodity Exchange started the payout of the wet season insurance claims in 2023.
Dr Michael Enahoro, country commercial manager, PULA Advisors AG, announced the pay-out in a statement, on Thursday in Abuja.
The statement announced that the insurance payout forms the basis of the “Naija Unlock Signature Program”. Heifer, in conjunction with AFEX and her network of smallholder farmers coordinated the payout.
The beneficiaries are Rice, Maize, Soya and Ginger smallholder farmers across Niger, Kaduna, Jigawa, Plateau, Kebbi and Jigawa States.
Enahoro named Leadway Assurance as the lead insurer of the programme paying out the claims totalling N110 million through AFEX.
He said Ginger farmers in Kaduna State suffered 100 per cent harvest loss due to outbreak of Ginger Blight disease.
The country commercial manager added that AFEX verified 1,138 ginger farmers for compensation payouts in respect of their harvest losses. He said Heifer International played a catalytic role that made the payout possible.
The PULA executive explained that Heifer took charge of prefinancing insurance premiums of participating farmers under AFEX’s farming programme.
“Heifer pre-financing model enables farmers get insurance coverage during the farming season. But it defers their payment for insurance services post-harvest when they are financially buoyant.
“The payout bears testimony to the impact of mitigating agricultural risks, which Nigerian smallholder farmers currently experienced by the Nigerian smallholder farmers.
Enahoro said losses that are due to pests, diseases, climate change and other critical factors, necessitated the inclusion of insurance in the farming programme.
This, he said, is to protect farmers’ investments against crop or harvest failures emanating from climate change perils.
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“The partnership has been active in ensuring mitigation against climate-induced challenges in the agricultural sector.
“It is to ensure that smallholder farmers’ confidence is bolstered, food production guaranteed and food systems resilience is mainstreamed.
“The partnership is tailored to support the government’s drive to address food security challenges.
“We achieved this by ensuring certification, catalogue and processing of farmers’ claims expeditiously anytime they suffer harvest losses,” he said.
TheNewsZenith reports that PULA Advisors is an agricultural insurance and technology company. It designs and delivers innovative agricultural insurance and digital products to help smallholder farmers.
This enables them to endure yield risks, improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes.
PULA is a leader in agricultural insurance innovation, streamlining claims assessment and payout process. It ensures transparency and efficiency in delivering financial support to aggrieved farmers who suffered losses.
Also, Heifer Project International, a global not-for-profit organisation, pre-financed the insurance premiums for the farmers at the beginning of the season, providing a post-harvest repayment option.
Leadway Assurance Company Limited, with over 50 years of experience in protecting livelihoods through comprehensive insurance coverage, has once again demonstrated its competence in servicing farmers’ claims.
AFEX is one of the largest commodity players in Nigeria. It works with an expansive network of farmers and processors. It provides them with the capital, infrastructure and market access needed to support food productivity.
Its innovative value-chain financing model leverages insurance to protect farmers’ investments and indemnify their raw-material agricultural supply chain against crop losses.
The partnership has enjoined collective aspiration towards expanding this engagement and ensuring that more Nigerian smallholder farmers are registered and insured during the 2024 farming season.
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