In a bid to reform and reposition agricultural insurance, as well as drive increased risk management services in the country, the Federal Government has released the sum of $5 million (about N998million) to the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Company (NAIC).
This allocation was disclosed by the Federal Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, in Lagos State, at the inauguration of the NAIC, Lagos Head Office Annex.
According to Dr. Adesina, who directed the release of the funds to NAIC, in order to support its institutional reforms, strengthen its operations and roll out more agricultural insurance products, stated that the gesture was to ensure that the administration delivered flawless and efficient risk management services to stakeholders in the nation’s agriculture sector.
The Minister, who was represented by the Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, South-West Zone, Mr. Olalekan Quadri, urged NAIC to spring into immediate action, as well as collaborate with global reinsurance companies to make agricultural insurance in Nigeria of global standard.
With agriculture being repositioned as the lifeline of the national economy, through the transformation of the agricultural sector to create jobs and revive the rural economy, Adesina noted that within the past three years, over 14.5 million farmers of which over 2.5 million were women, have received their farm inputs directly through the e-wallet scheme of the GES Scheme.
Furthermore he commented that the Federal Government, through the Ministry, has also developed policies and risk transfer systems to protect farmers from the effects of climate change and that these measures via the ATA had enabled the sector to stabilize the country’s economy; despite the depreciation in the value of the Naira and the collapse in crude oil prices, food prices have been largely stable.
Speaking at the event, the Chairman, Board of Directors of NAIC, Mrs. Chioma Ohakim, who confirmed the decline in the nation’s food import bill by 408 percent, pledged the commitment of her organization to ensure the effective use of the funds to actualize its set objectives.
The goal of the Federal government as disclosed at the event is to ensure that over 15 million farmers are covered by crop and livestock insurance in the next three years.
