GOVERNMENT TO INTRODUCE A NEW LIVESTOCK INSURANCE SCHEME

The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) is working on plans to introduce a new livestock insurance that will provide financial support to famers in the event of death of their cattle.

All insured livestock will be tagged using Radio frequency identification (RFID) chip for the purpose of identification. RFID is reliable, efficient and cost-effective method of tracking and identifying cattle and cows.

“This insurance is going to be covering risks so that our farmers in Rwanda live happily and improve their farming systems because their cows are insured,” said Dr Theogene Rutagwenda, Director General in charge of Livestock and Animal Resources in MINAGRI.

Dr Rutagwenda added that the new insurance scheme, to be operational by next month, will also provide insurers with accurate and timely information to calculate premiums and enable lenders to price loans.

He was speaking during a recent pre-implementation workshop on the livestock insurance scheme. The workshop had gathered representatives of dairy cooperative farmers, insurance companies, financial institutions and officials from the ministry.

The proposed scheme will be implemented through a multi-agency framework by selected insurance companies, reinsurance companies, dairy cooperatives under the overall guidance and control of MINAGRI, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MINECOFIN) and Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR).

According to officials, the new scheme will allow banks to expand their lending portfolio to agriculture sector without increasing default risk, make effective use of government subsidies, and provide standard insurance contracts and lay down procedures and principles for the operation of agriculture insurance, to ensure centralized and standardized loss adjustment activities

The insurance product coverage will indemnify the insured due to death as a result of accidents such as lightning, internal and external injuries, windstorms, snakes bites and flooding; illness and diseases of terminal nature; emergency slaughter on advice of a qualified veterinary surgeon, and epidemics.

The insurance scheme covers indigenous, crossbred and exotic cattle.

Initially based on the presence of cattle population, milk production centers, milk sheds and dairy cooperatives, the first phase of the scheme comprises of 8 districts in three provinces of Rwanda – namely Nyagatare, Gatsibo and Kayonza districts in Eastern Province; Gicumbi, Musanze and Burera Districts in Northern Province and Ruhango, and Nyanza districts in Southern Province

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