Facing worsening climate conditions, Guyanese farmers to benefit from crop insurance this year

Tractors deployed at Babu John, Port Mourant, to help drain the floodwaters off of the land (Photo: Yusuf Ali/ June 12, 2021)

“I am optimistic that we can have something like this for our farmers in Guyana because insurance companies around the world don’t want to get into insuring farms because in disaster-prone areas this may not be profitable,” Mustapha told the parliamentary committee.

The crop insurance will be purchased by agricultural producers, including farmers, ranchers and others to protect against either the loss of their crops due to natural disasters, or the loss of revenue due to declines in the prices of agricultural commodities.

Usually, there are two major types of crop insurance: multiple peril crop insurance (MPCI) and crop-hail insurance.

The Agriculture Minister said the government was aggressively pursuing the idea and hopes to get it for Guyanese farmers by the second quarter of 2022.

“The process has commenced, actions are ongoing and the Ministerial Task Force has set itself a deadline for implementation of key elements of this programme,” the agriculture minister further explained.

Mustapha said he has been engaging farmers all across the country and they welcome the initiative.

“Farmers are eager, they are looking forward to something like this because this here will protect them.”

Although the insurance will be given across the board to all crops and farmers there are some identified commodities that will benefit in the first instance, followed by others.

Meanwhile, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill who is also a member of the parliamentary sectoral committee commended the gesture by agriculture officials across the CARICOM region.

“This will take a big burden off governments to deal with it because of climate conditions,” Edghill said.