Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has unveiled plans to integrate agricultural insurance into the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP) programme.
At the Train-the-Trainer Workshop to develop the plan framework in Abuja, minister of State for Agriculture Food Security, Sabi Abdullahi in his opening remarks, emphasised the necessity of this move, citing the growing climate risks that threaten agricultural productivity across the country.
The minister highlighted that the government, in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB), has been working on the NAGS-AP programme since the 2023 dry season, with yielding positive results due to favourable weather conditions, but the urgent need to protect these gains against future uncertainties through insurance.
He referenced the devastating impact of the ginger blight disease in Kaduna during the 2023 wet season, where uninsured farmers suffered extensive losses, while those with insurance were able to recover more quickly.
The minister also referenced the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook, which identified 397 local government areas across Nigeria as flood-risk zones, representing over 51% of the country’s farming areas.
Given these challenges, the minister reiterated the federal government’s commitment to integrating climate-smart agriculture practices, including the implementation of a comprehensive national Agricultural Insurance scheme under the NAGS-AP programme.
The National Project Coordinator for NAGS-AP, Isaku Buba, presented a paper detailing the proposed strategies for incorporating agricultural insurance into the programme and stressed its critical role in achieving the goals of food security and sustainability.
In her remarks, NAIC managing-director, Folashade Joseph, urged the stakeholders across the agricultural sector to adopt NAIC insurance products for their investments to forestall the risk of exposure to natural perils.
