Audu Ogbeh: Minister of agriculture

The Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) on Friday said it would develop new insurance products and services to minimise risks associated with the agricultural value chain.

The Managing Director of the corporation, Mrs Folashade Joseph, announced the plan at the inauguration of an eight-man steering committee to work on a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding signed by the governments of Nigeria and Morocco recently in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that both King Mohammed VI of Morocco and President Mohammadu Buhari signed the MoU in December 2016.

The MoU was aimed at strengthening bilateral economic ties, especially in the area of agriculture, between the two countries.

Joseph advised farmers to embrace agricultural risk management in the face of unfavourable weather conditions caused by climate change amidst the predictions of hotter, drier and unpredictable weather conditions.

According to her, NAIC will continue to meet up with its obligation in terms of payment of claims, as at when due, to the farmers insured through the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) platform.

“We have enjoyed an enduring relationship with BOA, being our major customer and partner.

“We wish to assure BOA of our continued support in the fulfillment of its mandate by providing appropriate risk management services to agricultural investors and farmers being financed by the bank.

“The BOA has been NAIC’s strongest partner for almost three decades.

“We believe that the new vista being opened in our relationship will yield a positive result for the benefit of Nigerian Farmers,’’ she said.

She said that NAIC recently visited the Mutuelle Agricole Marocaine d’Assurances (MAMDA) in Rabat, Morocco to activate the terms of the MOU.

The visit also afforded NAIC to understudy the Moroccan experience in the area of ‘parametric insurance’ products.

NAN reports that parametric insurance is a type of insurance that does not indemnify the pure loss, but ex-ante agreement to make a payment upon the occurrence of a triggering event.

The triggering event is often a catastrophic natural event, which may ordinarily precipitate a series of losses.

Joseph added that representative of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and management of BOA were part of the visitation to Morocco.

Mr Kabiru Mohammed, the Interim Managing Director, BOA, said that the committee was set up in line with new developments in the agriculture sector.

According to Mohammed, the bank is expected to facilitate the Federal Government objective of repositioning the agriculture sector.

“Recently, BOA and NAIC were in Morocco for a follow up to the agreement signed by the two presidents on how to strengthen our agricultural sector and meet farmers’ needs.

“We are also working to change farmers’ mindset that farming is mere traditional occupancy.

“There is an urgent need for the two organisations to collaborate for the progress of our agriculture sector,’’ BOA boss said.

He said the bank would not limit itself to government intervention programmes alone.

“We have started talking to development partners who are ready to invest in agriculture in Nigeria,’’ he said. (NAN)