The Ministry of Agricultural on Thursday held a consultation forum with stakeholders on documents that explore the fifteen years of agriculture insurance experience in Ethiopia and international agricultural insurance experiences.
The Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia Omar Hussain said while opening the forum that Africa is being affected by untimely rains, floods and droughts. Realizing that climate change is an issue of survival especially for Africa, he said that there is a need to create ways to manage the problem, and he explained that one of the immediate measures for this is agricultural insurance.
Dr. Mandefro Nguse, Director General of the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute, said that it is the world of the forum to discuss the current strengths, challenges and how to work on agricultural insurance in Ethiopia.
Various opinions and questions related to agricultural insurance were raised from the forum participants and a consensus was reached. Ethiopia has been frequently affected by droughts and floods, which has been forcing millions of both its farmers and pastoralists to depend on aid mainly foreign.
For over a decade and half private insurance companies in Ethiopia such as Nyala Insurance Company (NIC), Oromia Insurance Company (OIC), and the government giant Ethiopian Insurance Company (EIC) have been practicing agricultural insurance to protect both farmers and pastoralists from loosing their harvest and livestock due to climate change related devastations.
Mainly after these insurance companies have been trying to ensure smallholder farmers and pastoralists in Ethiopia, banks such as, Cooperative Bank of Oromia, and microfinance institutions like, Omo Microfinance to finance small holder farmers.