Insurance venture aims to help small farmers

CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. (CMPI) is teaming up with state-run Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) to help provide greater access to insurance products and services, especially to small farmers.

A joint-venture between microfinance provider CARD MRI and the Pioneer Group, CPMI seeks to offer relevant needs-based insurance solutions to help underserved and unserved Filipinos recover, rebuild and restart after life’s setbacks.

Through the partnership with PCIC, CMPI will provide insurance protection to smallholder farmers against losses from natural calamities, plant diseases and pest infestations.

The initiative is backed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the multilateral lender’s Financial Inclusion Framework Strengthening technical assistance project.

CMPI said in a statement the initiative was the first public-private partnership in the Philippines aimed at bridging the insurance gap and contributing to the sustainable development of agricultural insurance of the country.

“Almost 24 percent, or roughly over 25 million of the Philippines population is engaged in agriculture—proof that we have no shortage of natural resources suitable for agriculture,” said Lorenzo Chan Jr., president and chief executive of Pioneer Inc.

“But we also know that exposure to natural calamities is a constant threat that continues to cause devastating damage to their livelihood,” Chan said. “Our initiative with PCIC aims to address that by helping smallholder farmers restart as typhoons, pests and plant diseases ravage their crops.”

CPMI and PCIC will share risks underwritten for each smallholder farmer insurance policy with the former as the lead insurer.

This co-insurance partnership will focus on insuring high-value crops in selected regions where the current penetration of PCIC’s agriculture insurance products is limited.

PCIC will provide capacity-building support to CPMI on various aspects of agriculture insurance, such as underwriting, policy administration, actuarial matters and claims management.

“We hope this initiative will spur more synergies between the public and the private sectors in sustainably providing effective affordable insurance products to all farmers,” he said. INQ