Farmers in disaster prone areas have been urged to take advantage of the agriculture insurance subsidy by government to minimize the effects of the vagaries of nature.
The call was made by the Executive Director of Insurance Regulatory Authority Alhaj Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega.
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Kaddunabbi revealed that the regulatory authority is in custody of the first batch of funds from government towards the cause.
He however noted that the uptake of the fund is still low due to farmer ignorance and low agriculture insurance uptake across the country.
For quite some time, discussion on promotion of agriculture in Uganda have been centered around financing and provision of water for production.
Government is now encouraging farmers to insure to minimize losses in their farming business as a coping mechanism to climatic change.
In support of this, government has through Insurance Regulatory Authority earmarked funds to subsidise agriculture premiums with emphacis on disaster prone areas.
With 80% subsidy compared to 50% for their counterparts in safer areas farmers in disaster prone areas have reason to smile following the revelation
The Executive Director regulatory Authority Alhaj Kaddunabbi Ibrahim Lubega revealed that the regulatory body received 5 billion from government this year with a promise of increase in subsequent financial years depending on consumption levels.
Kaddunabbi was in Mbale with his team on an insurance awareness creation agenda.
However, statistics indicates that most farmers are still ignorant about the subsidy. Statistics also indicate that Eastern region has benefited least. This is attributed to low agriculture insurance uptake is in the region despite the rampant occurrence of disasters.
Insurance Regulatory Authority which is the custodian of the fund is now appealing to farmers in Eastern region take advantage of the subsidy and insure their farms against desaster risks.
The authority has embarked on an awareness creation drive to bring the farmers up to speed with the development.
