The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Financing Fund for the Agricultural Sector (Finagro), enabled more than $54,130 million so that peasant families can access new subsidies intended for the acquisition of agricultural insurance policies.
(Read: ‘We seek to make agriculture comprehensive, precise and productive’: Precisagro)
The initiative seeks to protect farmers’ production from climatic, health, financial and market risks. The policies can be purchased through the Agricultural Insurance Incentive (ISA).
Precisely this tool is designed to safeguard agricultural activity against phenomena such as excessive rains, droughts, strong winds, floods, frosts, hailstorms, landslides, avalanches and fires, as well as biological and health risks, such as pests and diseases.
(See more: ‘We want to be the exporting company of water pumps for agriculture’: Netafim)
Of the total bag, $24.53 billion will be used to subsidize up to 95% of insurance premiums for small, low-income producersup to 90% for other small producers and up to 40% for medium producers.
For example, a small, low-income producer who purchases a policy with a premium of $1,000,000 will only pay $50,000 plus VAT, since the Government will cover the rest. Through the ISA, farmers can insure various agricultural activities, such as coffee, cocoa, potatoes, corn, bananas, rice, avocado and sugarcane, as well as livestock activities that include pig farming, poultry farming, beekeeping and cattle and buffalo farming.
(Read: Uniban acquires La Niña plant for expansion of Turbana Foods)
Agriculture
iStock
The Minister of Agriculture, Martha Carvajalino, highlighted that “The democratization of credit implemented by the Government updates economic justice for the rural population“He added that the inclusion of this new package of relief seeks to eliminate barriers for small and medium-sized producers to access incentives that respond to their real needs.
(Read also: Fenalce requests to expedite recognition of national corn and soy chains)
For her part, Alexandra Restrepo, president of Finagro, stated that “These new resources reflect Finagro’s commitment to continue promoting a greater risk management culture“. He added that so far in 2024, 83,655 policies have been issued, of which 99% have been for small producers. The ISA also allows investments in the countryside to be insured and livelihood guaranteed.
To date, Projects from small and medium producers have been secured for more than $647,637 million, supported by subsidies from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
(See more: The Government’s strategies to stop the dairy crisis)
Agriculture
iStock
Besides, $29.6 billion have been allocated for the pilots of the Comprehensive Incentive for Agricultural Risk Management (IIGRA), created this year. This incentive subsidizes technical support, promotion of savings, access to agricultural insurance, interest rate subsidy and capitalization incentives.
(Read: Analysis: the effects of the increase in the price of coffee for the country’s growers)
The IIGRA is aimed at small producer organizations and seeks to strengthen their productive capacities and promote associativity. Finagro, In alliance with insurers and the National Federation of Coffee Growers, it will develop a pilot that guarantees its scaling up in 2025.
Another modality of this strategy focuses on territorial entities. Finagro, together with the Government of Antioquia, is implementing a pilot of catastrophic agricultural insurance that subsidizes 80% of the insurance premium, protecting the investments of approximately 30,000 agricultural producers in the region. With the opening of the program and the development of these plans, it is expected that the investments of 20,000 new producers will be protected.
(See more: Agriculture is consolidated as one of the engines of the Colombian economy)
