Bawku: Farmers Receive Farm Insurance Claims

Farmers in the Bawku area who were advised to insure their farms against unforeseen disasters have received claims from the Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP) for various degrees of damages on their farms last year.

About 1,924 farmers from the Bawku West, Binduri, Garu and the Tempane districts received GH¢62,740 as farm insurance cover claims through the BESSFA Rural Bank limited that guided them to subscribe to the insurance policy to protect their farms to avoid harvest loses.

The BESSFA Rural Bank with branches in the Bawku, Garu and parts of the Northern region assisted the farmers during the last farming season to secure the loans from the Bank which had the insurance product and based on that they were qualified to pick the claims from the GAIP.

Mr Roger Aruk, Upper East Regional representative for the GAIP who presented a cheque for the claims to the farmers through the Bank at Garu, lauded the farmers for accepting to subscribe to the product and said it was a step in the right direction to recoup the loses.

Mr Aruk told the farmers that protecting their investments on the farms was prudent because it would secure their toils and suffering to bring home good productivity for the development of the household.

He mentioned that the company was running about three products which included; Draught Index Insurance (DII), Multi-Peril Crop Insurance (MPCI), and the Area Yield Insurance, and said the company sold out the MPCI to the farmers at three percent to each farmer for an acre of farm land.

Mr Aruk indicated that the MPCI covered 3,134 acres of farm land and insured the farms in the occurrence of draught, pest and diseases among others.

He called on the farmers who had not yet gone for the farm insurance covers to do so with the company so as to protect their farms from danger.

Mr Abugri Azimbe officer in charge of insurance and marketing at the BESSFA Bank urged farmers who intended to apply for facilities in the bank to do so early so as to allow the bank serve them on time with conveniences.

Mr Azimbe stressed the need for farmers to subscribe to the insurance cover in groups because it was easier for the bank to work with groups than individuals and called on loan defaulters to respond to their repayment conditions so as to allow others to benefit.

Mr Kofi Laar, a farmer, and beneficiary of the farm insurance who is into the cultivation of maize, soya bean and Millet, said the insurance had come to save farmers from harvest loses and added that it would encourage them to do more farming to promote food security in the area.

He lauded the initiative and said this would motivate them to expand their farms and cultivate varieties of crops in the area.