Kirinyaga farmers to benefit from Sh9.16 mn compensation for losses

NAIROBI, Kenya, October 15 – Kirinyaga farmers are set to benefit from a Shs 9.16 million payment as compensation for losses incurred during the March, April and May seasons due to erratic rainfalls, locusts invasion, and drought.

The disbursement which will benefit 833 insured farmers was made under a partnership between APA Insurance which was the lead insurer, Apollo Agriculture, as the client and Pula,  the service provider who designed the AreaYield Index product .

Pula did a risk assessment to determine the claims for the smallholder farmers by insuring the value of the Apollo Input credit against low yield.

Rose Goslinga -CEO and Co-Founder of Pula Advisors said the insurance products was developed to help Apollo smallholder farmers build resilience and invest more time in their farms.

“The payout will help the farmer to repay an outstanding loan, buy food, pay school fees and meet other expenses like hospital bills among others. ” Pula Advisors Commercial Manager, Jacobeth Barno added “

James Papa, Assistant Manager, Inclusive Insurance, AP said the insurance product is aimed at uplifting farmers in times of unpredicted weather-related vagaries even as he encouraged  all farmers to embrace agriculture insurance.

“We as APA insurance, we thank the farmers and appreciate the fact that despite many challenges in agriculture you have continued doing what you love most and that’s feeding our communities.

The scale of the pay-outs is dependent on the severity of the insured risks and the total sum insured per farmer/acre.

Under the cover, the county is divided into agro-ecological zones (AEZs) based on, among other parameters, historical rainfall, temperatures, and average historical yield data.

At the end of the season, trained local enumerators measure yield levels for each agro-ecological zone; With this information, farmers receive compensation if yields in a specific agro-ecological zone are below a predetermined trigger level.