The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has launched a new insurance product to reduce losses of agricultural produce and market price risks for small-scale farmers.

In a statement attributed to the Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, Head Corporate Communications of NIRSAL, Mrs. Anne Ihugba, said the new insurance product is titled the NIRSAL Comprehensive Index Insurance (NCII).

Ihugba said the product would address the fundamental risks associated with possible production pitfalls, scepticism of the marketplace and also protect farmers against risk on the agricultural value chain.

She said the distribution of the insurance product would begin immediately with a pilot phase as part of the organisation’s operation in the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme in the 2018 wet season farming.

“At NIRSAL, our focus is to make positive impact at key points of the agricultural value chains that can translate to significantly higher and sustained productivity, food security for the country.” She said

According to her, “The new insurance product, an innovative form of revenue insurance is unique in Africa. It is also the first of such product to be achieved without government subsidies on the premium.

She added that “Leveraging on its 30 million dollars insurance facility, NIRSAL’s goal is to expand insurance products and coverage on agricultural lending across the entire value chain by growing coverage from about 0.5m to 3.8m primary producers.’’

She noted that the NCII was developed by the Corporation in collaboration with key partners as well as National Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), and members of the consortium including Axa Mansard, IGI, Leadway, Royal Exchange and Pula Advisors.

Source: Agro Nigeria

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