Agricultural officials call for scale-up of crop insurance schemes

Officials in the agricultural sector have called on relevant stakeholders to scale up crop insurance schemes to help Cambodian farmers mitigate the risks of having their fields destroyed by flooding and drought. Mom Thany, undersecretary of state of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said that enlarging the availability of crop insurance would help secure the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. Typical crop insurance initiatives that have been piloted in the Kingdom involve rice farmers paying to a scheme at the beginning of the growing season, with payments based on the size of the farm, type of paddy grown and technical tools used. In return, farmers get an insurance payout if their crop is assessed to be damaged by flood or drought. The Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) first launched a crop insurance program in 2014, and has sold crop insurance policies to 155 farmers in a pilot project that is limited to the province of Kampong Speu, Takeo, and Kampong Chhnang. Meanwhile Forte Insurance started offering services to farmers in 2015, and has so far sold crop insurance policies to 150 farmers. (Source: Phnom Penh Post)