The facility was praised by the
World Food Programme (WFP), development agencies, insurance companies and the
private sector during a side event at COP28 in Dubai.
Adesina said the Africa Climate
Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA) aims to mobilise $1 billion of
concessionary financing, high-risk capital and grants to support the African
insurance industry.
The cahs is designed to protect
farmers and countries against catastrophic weather-related events and to
stimulate private sector investment in agriculture by mitigating risks.
“We have to support farmers, not
abandon them, in the face of rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather
events like drought, floods and pest infestation… We need to ensure that
farmers and actors along the agricultural value chain are covered by insurance
at scale,” he said.
Adesina said over 97 per cent of
farmers in Africa do not have agricultural insurance. “Their only insurance is
to pray… when they plant that it will rain. Pray when they harvest that there
will not be rains or pest devastation and pray when they market their crops
that prices will not collapse.
“The eyes of more than 40 million
smallholder farmers in Africa are on us. Let us make ACRIFA the answer to their
prayers,” he said, adding that ACRIFA “will systematically support the African
insurance industry to unlock financing for investments in climate-smart and
green technologies. It will strengthen local insurers and foster integration
with national and international reinsurers”.
Unveiled at the Africa Climate
Summit held in Nairobi in September, ACRIFA brings together governments,
development agencies, the insurance sector and the private sector.
The successful roll out of the
facility will depend largely on partnerships such as the WFP to deliver
services to clients.
“The climate crisis is affecting
agricultural communities across Africa. This programme will play an important
role in protecting smallholder [farmers], pastoralists and small businesses
from climate shocks. We are excited about our growing partnership with the
African Development Bank, which is allowing us to offer more support to
governments, as they respond to the climate crisis,” Executive Director of the
WFP, Cindy McCain, said.
During the presentation, the
United Nations Assistant Secretary General and Director General of the African
Risk Capacity Group, Ibrahima Diong and Bogolo Kenewendo, the Special Advisor
to the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champion, said ACRIFA will
boost investment and resilience in the continent’s agri-food systems.
The Head of Government Relations
at the One Acre Fund Michelle Kigari said, “Insurance is absolutely critical in
building resilience, meaningful resilience, for Africa’s farmers,” and added,
“Farmers are not able to bounce back from some shocks if they don’t have a
safety net, and insurance helps build that safety net.”
The Founder of Takaful Insurance
Group of Africa and ACRIFA Senior Advisor Hassan Bashir urged insurance
companies to consider taking on large-scale group clusters of farmers for
insurance cover. “Africa is fed and employed by the agriculture sector, yet we
define it as a risky business. Agriculture is not risky—life depends on it,”
said Bashir.
Leave Comments