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Leadway emphasises risk mitigation in agro-allied investments

By Femi Ibirogba
29 April 2019   |   3:41 am
The government at all levels, farmers and agro-industrial investors have been called upon to protect their investments in agricultural enterprises against multifarious risks to ensure capital protection, sustainability and food security. The Divisonal Director of Leadway Assurance Company, Mr Alan Olufade, represented by Head, Agric.& Micro Insurance/National Coordinator, Ayoola Fatona, made the call at a…

Head, Agric.& Micro Insurance/National Coordinator, Ayoola Fatona

The government at all levels, farmers and agro-industrial investors have been called upon to protect their investments in agricultural enterprises against multifarious risks to ensure capital protection, sustainability and food security.

The Divisonal Director of Leadway Assurance Company, Mr Alan Olufade, represented by Head, Agric.& Micro Insurance/National Coordinator, Ayoola Fatona, made the call at a seminar on agricultural insurance for brokers, organised by company in Abuja on Thursday.

Olufade said: “As investments in agriculture continue to be on the rise, so do the attendant risks across the entire agricultural value chains. Agricultural risks usually have profound impact on any economy as they undermine possibilities of agricultural entrepreneurs, particularly farmers, to accumulate assets, invest in and develop businesses.”

Increasingly, he argued, farmers, firms, governments and many other actors are learning that agricultural production and marketing are complex activities marked by pervasive and increasing risks that result from a broad set of weather, structural, demographic, market and institutional changes.

Olufade said in treating these risks, the right approach is to treat agriculture as a business by protecting farm investments through insurance covers.

“All the activities along the chain are exposed to various kinds of risks which need to be properly addressed to make agriculture a profitable and viable venture. The concept, therefore, is to manage these risks along the entire value chain and enable agriculture to make a meaningful impact on the economy,” he added.

Meanwhile, ‘Agricultural Risk Management,’ one of the papers presented by Mr Ayoola Fatona, National Coordinator, Leadway, discussed the concepts of risks as applicable to various agricultural ventures. It also highlighted the risks across the value chain and the attendant insurance policies available to mitigate these risks.

The paper, ‘Underwriting Agricultural Products – crops and Livestock,’ another paper by Fatona, discussed how the risks in crops and livestock value chains could be underwritten by the company. It highlights the processes involved in the purchases of these policies by potential clients and the importance of the inspection and monitoring of these projects before having them insured
‘Risk monitoring, survey and management in poultry and livestock’, delivered by Dr Jacob Agbo, discussed the sensitivity and risks in poultry and livestock projects and how these risks could be managed. It also highlighted and focused on what factors to look out for when on inspection and monitoring visits to these farms.

Insurance service providers, brokers, agents and other intermediaries were advised to take more than a passing interest in agricultural insurance products and services to offer agribusiness investors how to cope with the myriad of risks threatening their businesses.

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