The National Insurance Commission has commenced the pilot implementation of Index-based Agricultural Insurance products in 10 northern states that will give farmers access to the Federal Government loans.

The Commissioner for Insurance, Alhaji Mohammed Kari, stated this during a workshop in Abuja.

He said that in partnership with the Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, underwriters were currently exploring innovative insurance products for livestock to help stem the tide of herdsmen and farmers’ clashes.

Kari said, “Last year, Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, working with PULA advisors as its technical advisers and in collaboration with NAICOM, initiated the inception of an ‘Area Yield Index Insurance’ starting from the wet season.

“The initiative is driven on the ‘Anchor Borrowers Programme’ of the Central Bank of Nigeria’ financing window of over $1.0bn but will later extend to other financing options.

“A pilot implementation of Index-based Agric Insurance products in the 2017 farming season, in 10 northern states and for four crops (rice, maize, soya and sorghum) was successfully launched in 2017.”

According to the commissioner, the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation, with 50 per cent government premium subsidies, is supposed to provide agricultural indemnity insurance covering crop, livestock, poultry and aquaculture.