The Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP) is concerned about farmers low patronage in agricultural schemes, predicting that this aversion will have unpleasant consequences for the sectors values chain.
GAIP’s goal is to safeguard farmers and other players in Ghana’s agriculture industry from the negative economic consequences of climate change and risks linked with agriculture.
Since it’s establishment in 2011, the pool has built a strong portfolio of innovative insurance solutions to help agribusinesses manage their financial risks.
“Unfortunately, GIAP has only registered 30,000 farmers nationwide in the ten years since 2011, out of an estimated farmer population of roughly 11.3 million in Ghana”, General Manager, GAIP, Alhaji Ali Muhammad Katu said.
The low patronage according to Alhaji Katu is due to people’s overall apprehension about purchasing insurance policies, which is a problem that affects all industries.
He stated that while farm insurance was not available in Ghana prior to the establishment of GAIP, the pool has made progress and would continue to do so.
“At least for now, we have a record; only that the patronage of agriculture insurance is still low and we have to quickly double-up and increase the figures. It’s just like vehicle insurance wherein the police ensure compulsion by compliance by drivers”, he said.