Farmers urged to insure their crops

Mon, 29 May 2017 11:57:32 +0000

By SHEILA SAKUPWANYA

Farmers should to take up insurance policies such as the multi-peril, weather index and livestock insurance policies in the next farming season to avoid losses in case of bad weather patterns or pest outbreak says Insurers Association of Zambia (IAZ)

The multi-peril crop insurance is a farmer’s insurance policy that covers a wide range of risks such as bad weather, pest outbreak, floods and poor crop germination as a result of poor rainfall patterns while the weather index insurance policy covers specific risks associated with bad weather.

IAZ consumer education officer Kambole Chituwo said farmers faced a number of challenges in case of an outbreak of pests like armyworms which resulted into a number of farmers recording losses because their crops were eaten up, hence the need  to have their crops insured every farming season..

Mr Chituwo said there were a number of policies that small scale farmers might consider to ensure that they were covered in case of a loss as a result of floods and poor crop germination, among others.

He said farmers should pick lessons from the previous farming season and take the necessary steps that would safeguard their crops and avoid making losses.

“Farmers should learn from the previous farming seasons and insure their crops to avoid panic and losses in case of bad weather and pest outbreak,’’ Mr Chituwo said.

He noted that farmers would worry less once they insured their crops as insurance companies would help them replace their lost farming inputs such as fertilizer and early maturing seed.

Mr Chituwo called on small scale farmers to form cooperatives and bargain for good premiums from the insurance companies.

“It is advisable for farmers to form groups and bargain for affordable premiums from insurance companies so that they can handle risks and avoid being economically affected in case of any losses,” Mr Chituwo said.