Insurance not a panacea for farmers – Simpson
Published:Friday | May 5, 2023 | 1:17 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
AFFORDABLE INSURANCE, which offers protection against the risk of crop losses due to natural disasters, pests and diseases, as well as market volatility, is a welcomed initiative for farmers.
However, this should not be seen as a cure-all for their problems, warned Winston Simpson, chief executive officer of the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA).
“We must acknowledge that insurance is not a panacea. It cannot solve all the problems farmers face such as access to credit and technology, or the effects of climate change. We need a holistic approach to agricultural development that addresses these issues and empowers farmers to become more resilient and competitive,” said Simpson.
“Therefore, we call upon the government, private sector and civil society to continue investing in agriculture and supporting our farmers. We need more extension officers, more research, more innovation and more infrastructure to enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability of farming,” he charged, during the presentation of a cheque by Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Pearnel Charles Jr, to GK Insurance, to cover policies for more than 700 farmers.
The event, which was held recently, saw a symbolic cheque for $3,288,500 being accepted by General Manager of GK Insurance Jordon Tait, at the handover ceremony at RADA’s head office at Hope Gardens, where he explained that the GK Weather Protect policy was developed through collaboration between the agriculture ministry, farmers, RADA and other agencies working with GK Insurance.
“The thing that we want is for farmers to concentrate on what they do best. That is to produce and so when there is a hiccup or a roadblock we want it to be easily removed, so that they can get back to doing what they do best. And so insurance solutions like GK Weather Protect provide emergency cash to get our farmers back on the road whenever they have weather events that prevent them from doing what they do best,” he declared.
Meanwhile, Charles Jr used the occasion to reference a recent Inter-American Bank study, which forecasts that by 2050 the devastation to Jamaica’s agricultural sector caused by climate change will be a whopping US$2 billion.
Already we are being impacted, the minister lamented, citing thousands of farmers who suffered losses due to the recent drought.
“Many farmers were unable to plant crops and many lost the entire harvest ... and so as we think about climate change what we must put in our minds is that the droughts, floods and hurricanes because of the climatic changes, will become even more frequent and severe. That means the impact to our farmers will become worse,” he warned.
Simpson also used the opportunity to point out that following extreme weather events, after farmers, usually it was RADA officers who got a close up look at the damage done.
“Even before the storm winds die down and the rain stops falling, we are being asked for crop damage assessments. RADA officers have to trek through mud and landslide to do crop damage assessments and see the impact on the lives of farmers who lose crops and livestock,” Simpson noted.
The GK Insurance general manager explained that his company worked with the Meteorological Service of Jamaica and incorporated historical data in developing the GK Weather Protect, which has the island divided into six zones – west, north, northeast, southeast, centre and southwest.
“What we’re covering is the income of the farmers, so it doesn’t matter what type of farming they are doing, livestock of crops,” he explained, “What we are looking for is that when a certain trigger – hurricane, excess rainfall or drought - happens for the area that they are in, then we’ll have a payout.”