Rice Farmers Anticipate Benefits Of US$100m Insurance Package

Rice farmers across the country are anticipating the total benefits their members are set to derive from the yet to be approved US$100 million insurance package set to be passed by parliament this year.

The package is seen as a major investment drive set to boost the agriculture sector and increase yields of the grain, following continuous appeals from stakeholders on the need to institute an insurance package in the sector.

Earlier reports available to the Goldstreet Business indicated that the legislature was set to approve the insurance package which would be channeled into farm risk insurance.

This would ensure the safety of rice farmers and ameliorate the various risks associated in the sector leading to the increase of production and yields.

Nana Kwabena Agyei Ayeh II, President, Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB)

Speaking to the Goldstreet Business, President of Ghana Rice Inter-professional Body (GRIB), Nana Kwabena Agyei Ayeh II said the package is an initiative they have been yearning for, for quite a long time and he is optimistic that parliament will attach priority and pass it for the benefit of the country.

“It is welcome news. I don’t think there is any farmer who wouldn’t want insurance. We are waiting for it to know the details, most especially how it is going to be rolled-out and everything involved in the insurance processes”, he stated.

Agriculture insurance includes a variety of product types such as property, causality, life and health insurance. It is expected that the farm risk insurance will focus on production and technical risk, output and input price risk, financial risk and personal risk.

An insurance package for rice farmers is expected to improve significantly their credit worthiness by providing some level of guaranteed income which would enable them have better access to credit.

Background

Currently, rice farmers are not beneficiaries of the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP), an initiative launched in 2011 to develop agricultural insurance for farmers in the country.

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Source: goldstreetbusiness.com