Agricultural insurance has been proven to be an effective mechanism for this purpose and to help farmers smooth their income flow and provide a financial buffer to rehabilitate damaged enterprises. In addition, agricultural insurance also brings collateral benefits such as enhancing farmers’ access to loan facilities. Financial institutions are more inclined to lend to farmers who have insurance premiums.

However, a lot needs to be done by the Asian economies to streamline agricultural insurance so that it actually benefits the farmers. In its bid to help the member countries formulate better strategic action plans for scaling up the best practices in agricultural insurance, the APO is organizing a workshop on Agricultural Insurance Systems in Manila, Philippines from 28 November to 2 December 2016.

During the five-day workshop, that began yesterday, over 24 participants from 15 countries will be sharing, discussing and analyzing the issues and challenges of implementing and managing different agricultural insurance schemes in their respective countries. The workshop is also an initiative by the APO to enhance the knowledge of participants on the principles, mechanisms, and management of agricultural insurance as a policy instrument and intervention approach to raise the productivity and income of small farmers and minimize their risk.

The workshop is being organized in association with Philippine’s Bureau of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development (BARBD) and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), along with the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) as the co-sponsor.

The workshop is being conducted by three overseas experts including Allianz SE Reinsurance (Singapore) Head of Agriculture Asia Pacific Peter Book, AgroInsurance International Switzerland Dr. Olena Sosanko and Weather Risk Management Services (India) Specialist Underwriting Expert Mayank Dubey. The workshop was inaugurated by the Philippine Department of Agrarian Reform Under Secretary Roselina Bistoyong who delivered the keynote address. Among others, CIRDAP Director General Tevita G Boseiwaqa Taginavulau, Philippines APO Liaison Officer Carlos Sayco, DAR Director Dr. Susana Evangelista Leones, CIRDAP Director Eva Tuzon, Philippines Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) Senior Vice-President Norman Canjucom and APO representative Dr. Shaikh Tanveer Hossain also addressed in the workshop on the inaugural day.