Agriculture insurance remains low

ZIMBABWE'S insurance cover for agricultural activities has remained low with insurance premiums at less than 3% of the total gross premiums generated by the insurance industry, Finance minister Mthuli Ncube has said.

is is despite the numerous risks and shocks affecting performance of the sector. e agriculture sector plays a significant role in the development of the country's economy.

"In this regard, development of agricultural index insurance in the country, which commenced in early 2022, is expected to be launched during the 3rd quarter of 2022," Ncube said in his mid-term budget.

" is initiative will lead to development of a regulatory framework for agricultural index insurance, setting up of knowledge exchange forums, as well as developing capacity in agriculture index insurance including innovative insurance solutions for smallholder farmers."

e Insurance and Pensions Commission (Ipec) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) this year launched the agricultural indexbased insurance project, whose objective is to provide insurance solutions for smallholder farmers who are exposed to climate-related crop losses in Zimbabwe.

According to Ipec, while the agricultural sector faced uncertainty due to climate change, the uptake of agricultural insurance was relatively low.

Some of the factors behind this are unaffordability of existing agricultural insurance products, inappropriate products, low levels of awareness on the role of insurance by farmers, especially smallholder farmers and lack of trust between insurers.