The National Programme Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme Agro-Pocket,Mr. Isiaku Buba and Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi during the workshop.
By Victoria Onehi
The Federal Government has said it will incorporate the Agricultural Insurance Scheme into the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket Program, NAGS-AP, to enhance sustainability and food security.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Dr Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi revealed this during the Agricultural Insurance Train-the-Trainer Workshop held at Orozo, Abuja recently.
The Minister in a statement pointed out that the purpose of integrating the Agricultural Insurance Scheme into the NAGS- AP programme was to protect the investment and interventions being made by the government and the financing partner, the African Development Bank (AfDB), via NAGS-AP.This he said will address the sustainability and security of local food systems.
“We commenced this programme in the 2023 dry season with wheat cultivation. So far, we have been fortunate to have favourable production due to good weather, resulting in a bountiful harvest.
“It is more evident than ever that we need a climate risk mitigation solution to close the many protection gaps arising from climate change risks such as floods, droughts, pests, diseases, etc capable of leading to crop failure or harvest losses.” he added.
Abdullahi noted that these risk have now become central issues affecting the government, financiers and the beneficiary farmers, who stand to lose the most from seasons of bad harvests.
The Minister pointed out one of the unfortunate incidences of the 2023 wet farming season, in which ginger farmers in Kaduna suffered immensely from the outbreak of the ginger blight disease, losing over 90% of their total harvest for the season.
He stated that only a few of those ginger farmers who took the insurance protection received monetary compensation for their harvest losses, noting that these set of farmers could boast of returning to their farms with little or no financial assistance, unlike their uninsured counterparts who had to dip into their meagre savings to be able to continue farming.
In his words, “it was estimated that Nigerian ginger farmers incurred losses amounting to N12 billion due to the catastrophic blight epidemic that decimated their crops in 2023. That is some food for thought and something that we all have to bear in mind; as we are at all times one or two bad harvest seasons away from losing our food supplies.
He added that one of the key deliverables, which the Ministry had approved, was to organise a training and sensitisation programme on Agricultural Insurance to educate stakeholders on its features and benefits.
The Minister, therefore expressed his gratitude to the Joint Working Committee and looked forward to the outcomes of the workshop and a subsequent report on the next steps towards implementing the Agricultural Insurance component for the ongoing NAGS 2023 wet season and subsequent dry and wet season programs.
In his opening remarks, the National Project Coordinator, National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP), Mr. Isiaku Buba noted that the scheme was designed to broaden its operational horizon to carter and accommodate the interest of the farmers and other relevant stakeholders operating along the production line of the chain.
He stressed that the Agricultural Insurance component of the NAGS-AP Project was being designed and propelled by tested and experienced hands from the insurance industry. He said NAIC and PULA Advisors Limited are present to inform stakeholders of the benefits and the proposed implementation strategies to be followed to incorporate the important component into the programme with a view to achieving the desired goals.
In her goodwill message, the Managing Director, Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, NAIC, Mrs Folashade Joseph pledged the readiness of NAIC to partner with stakeholders in the Agricultural and other sectors of the economy by providing sound insurance and other risk management expertise with a view to reducing risks bedeviling these ventures and improving national agricultural output towards the attainment of food security.
In attendance were stakeholders from All Farmers Association, NAIC, PULA Advisors, USAID, REX Insurance, and NAIDA, amongst others.
