67 286 farmers get compensations in 2020/21 crop insurance claims
67 286 smallholder Malawian farmers that were hit by dry spells in the 2020/2021 growing season – especially in the southern and eastern regions – have received their crop insurance claims payouts, courtesy of award-winning agricultural technology insurance company—Pula.
Pula representative, Jacobeth Mbano, said on Thursday, October 21, 2021, during the launch of the payouts at Chilanga Primary School in Balaka district that her institution would ensure that every farmer gets their compensation.
At the function, Pula disbursed about K2 billion to 67 286 affected farmers in eight districts of Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Nsanje, Machinga, Mangochi, Phalombe and Zomba.
“Smallholder farmers face a lot of challenges in their faming endeavors including pests, diseases and effects of climate change and, as such, they need to be insured so that they can be safe.
“Climate change is inevitable and there is always a need to be proactive and that is why at Pula we came up with an insurance scheme for them [smallholder farmers],” Mbano said.
According to her, Pula’s vision is to see farmers ply their trade as a business, and that in the event that they experience losses in case of eventualities, they should be well compensated.
She added that another of Pula’s aspirations is to caution and provide solutions to smallholder farmers against risks that are beyond their control.
The scheme is being made possible partners such as the Government of Malawi, World Food Program (WFP) and Nico Insurance Company Limited.
In his remarks, agriculture minister Lobin Lowe, who was guest of honour, said smallholder farmers in Malawi work so hard in their field but it is always sad that they yield nothing from their hard work due to climatic hazards.
Lowe said crop insurance has come as a sigh of relief to the smallholder farmers in the country applauded the implementing partners for their efforts.
“Providing crop insurance services to farmers who have been affected by climate change is very important because it helps farmers not to lose hope and it also acts as a risk transfer mechanism so that farmers do not shoulder the burden of yield losses necessitated by either pests and diseases or climate change,” Lowe said
Chairperson of agriculture sub-committee under insurance association of Malawi, Master Mbale, said climate change is a global issue that cannot be avoided as such farmers needed to be insured at all cost.
He added that the association will make sure that smallholder farmers embrace the insurance scheme.
One of the beneficiaries, Hadija Ahamadu, from Chibwana Village in the area of Traditional Authority Amidu in the district said the funds will help her to buy food and also prepare for the growing season coming ahead.
Launched in 2015 by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, Pula designs and delivers innovative agricultural insurance and digital products to help smallholder farmers endure climate risks, improve their farming practices and bolster their incomes over time.
Through its Area Yield Index Insurance product, Pula leverages machine learning, crop cut
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