The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Farming reporter
FARMERS have been urged to consider agriculture insurance as a measure against an assortment of natural disasters threatening to ruin production every season due to the prevailing climate change challenges.
Widespread cases of crops and livestock disasters continue to be reported throughout the country over time that have resulted in written off crops and deaths of livestock. In an interview, Matabeleland North provincial principal agronomist Mr Davison Masendeke said farmers must ensure that their businesses are insured.
“Cropping can be affected by various natural disasters that include hailstorm, frost, floods, and veld fires among others. If farmers insure their crops they are bound to suffer less unlike person who would not done anything,” said Mr Masendeke.
He said insurance would assist farmers get back what would have been lost in the event of a natural disaster and accidents. Mr Masendeke said in terms of livestock, outbreak of diseases such as foot and mouth, anthrax, natural deaths or theft could greatly affect farmers without agriculture insurance.
He said livestock was an asset that every farmer wants to keep so that they multiply in numbers, hence they need to be insured in the event that an unpredicted natural disaster and accident happens.
Department of Veterinary Services chief director Dr Josphat Nyika said a comprehensive agriculture insurance cover was essential.
“Farmers should insure their livestock especially with a comprehensive cover which is an All-Risk cover meaning that if they lose their livestock from diseases or accidents the insurance should be able to cover those. I must say it is very critical that farmers get such a cover to ensure that there is no total loss,” said Dr Nyika.
He said that in the event of unseen incidents happening as noted earlier this year of the outbreaks of January disease and lumpy skin disease that caused livestock deaths, an insurance cover should have bailed out farmers.
Recently in an online webinar looking at the State of Financial Inclusion in Zimbabwe from the insurances and policies perspective, Insurance and Pensions Commission public relations manager, Mr Lloyd Gumbo said they were developing an index-based insurance framework.
“We are developing an index-based insurance framework and we believe that this will go a long way in terms of making sure that smallholder farmers are able to insure their crops. With climate change there are various challenges such as droughts, flooding among others and these have negative effects on smallholder farmers,” said Mr Gumbo.
He said the weather index-based insurance framework will address issues around climate change as most farmers were struggling to recover from losses incurred from the natural disasters.
