The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) has said it paid N1.7billion claims to over 5,000 farmers in two years.
A breakdown of the payment showed that the Corporation paid N856 million in 2019 and N848 million as claims to its insured farmers in 2020.
Speaking on this, Managing Director of NAIC, Folashade Joseph, said the claims were paid to the Corporation’s clients to cover losses incurred in the course of doing business.
Joseph said the amount paid was shared among five million farmers who suffered various setbacks in their farms as a result of natural course.
She therefore, enjoined agricultural investors and lending institutions to continue to partner NAIC by taking agricultural insurance cover that will enable them remain firm in business despite unforeseen circumstances from weather conditions and other risks in order to realise the food security agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari. She explained that the essence of the sensitisation is to let the farmers know and understand exactly what NAIC does, the importance of insurance, and make them understand how insurance works, how they can access NAIC products and services, processing their claims, and what they need.
“Agribusiness is evolving fast and so many risks are being thrown up, many new participants are coming into the business of agriculture, and the risks are on the increase if you look at them across the value chain there is no so many participants so we need to keep sensitising the farmers and let them know we are serving them, and we need to know from them on how to serve them.
“Our assurance to farmers is that when they are insured and they suffered for any of the products insured including natural disasters and whatever they will get paid for their losses, and that is the purpose of insurance and setting up NAIC. Our motor is ‘Plowing the Farmer Back to Business, Plowing the Farmers into Prosperity’, and we settle claims.
“NAIC currently deals with thousands of farmers (Small, Medium, and Large scale farmers) across the country, serving them with investment as little as N100, 000, and at the same time serves multinational farmers. In terms of reaching out to farmers, it cuts across.
“The response of farmers has been fantastic because they have realised that every business needs insurance, and agric too is a business, and we see it as a business and there is risk in all that we do.