Agriculture, which used to be 50 percent of GDP, had lost its value and was now only 23 percent of GDP, which, unfortunately, was not attracting the attention of policymakers as needed.
“There is a need for insurance companies to develop credible, authentic, and sustainable products to provide insurance to crops and agricultural products in consultation and coordination with each other, which should be user-friendly, easy to execute, and reachable for farmers, especially with landholdings less than 12.5 acres,” the president said while speaking at a TPL Insurance seminar titled “Importance of Crop Insurance in the Modern Era.”
Agriculture, which used to be 50 percent of GDP, had lost its value and was now only 23 percent of GDP, which, unfortunately, was not attracting the attention of policymakers as needed.
He stated that large landholding farmers should also be insured, with a greater emphasis on farmers living below the poverty line, to protect them from crop losses caused by man-made and natural disasters, as well as unpredictable weather systems.
The president noted that agriculture, which used to be 50% of GDP, had lost its value and was now only 23% of GDP, which, unfortunately, was not attracting the attention of policymakers as needed.
He stated that agriculture was still the backbone of the economy and that it was critical that this sector receive patronage and support at both the public and private levels in order to ensure food security for the country, which could only be achieved if farmers were protected, irrespective of the size of their landholdings, from the adverse impact and damages sustained by them due to man-made and natural calamities.
He stated that Pakistan has an elaborate system of satellite imagery that continuously produces relevant data about various weather patterns, but it has not been properly analyzed to predict weather patterns, fluctuations in the weather system, and to warn farmers against unexpected rain or other natural calamities.
He emphasized that meaningful steps should be taken to analyze satellite data and transform its findings productively and effectively at the grassroots level to assist farmers in deciding on the nature and timing of crop sowing and to protect themselves against weather system fluctuations.
He observed that, in addition to crop insurance, other insurance products for subsidiary products such as animal husbandry, milk and dairy products, meat poultry, fish farming, and vertical farming, among others, should be developed to provide holistic and well-thought-out and tested insurance products.
He noted that the crop insurance scheme developed by the Punjab government with the assistance of the World Bank had yielded fruitful results in protecting farmers from losses caused by climate change or other natural disasters. He added that this model should be studied and the findings should be applied to the rest of the country.
He urged insurance companies to create credible products that elicit immediate trust and support from the farmer community and are readily adopted by them. He underscored the need to promote the insurance product on all platforms of media i.e. print, electronic, social, and cellular forms through PTA messaging to communicate the product and benefits associated with them at the grassroots level.
The president observed that, unlike other countries, Pakistan had an excellent system of social insurance where the family members and close relatives come out generously to help other family members who had suffered losses due to different reasons. He called upon the insurance companies to study this outstanding social insurance system and develop products around this concept which, he said, being cost-effective and sustainable would likely be welcomed by the farmer community.
He said the government was also duty bound to help and compensate the losses incurred by the farmers due to the crop losses by providing them financial assistance to help them to reemerge from the difficulties faced by them due to various reasons including climate change. He appreciated that the government, despite financial constraints, had compensated to some extent to the people in the flood-affected areas.
He urged the government to develop policies and plan for optimal utilization of allocated budget, loans and financial assistance obtained from foreign governments through deliberation and consensus with all the stakeholders. He added that the success of any policy, planning and strategy was gauged from its effectiveness, user-friendliness and its ability to permeate effortlessly to the targeted population.
Crops insurance could reduce the financial losses of farmers and agriculturists, a seminar has heard. Insurance provides protection to crops and the livelihood of people, he added. The majority of farmers were living at the subsistence level so crop insurance could be the best way to safeguard their losses in case of natural calamities.