Recommendations coming out of a recent Agricultural Risk and Insurance Symposium will be presented to the Minister of Agriculture as key stakeholders in the industry anticipate changes in the dying relationship between the agriculture and finance sectors.
The three–day symposium, the first of its kind here and which was organized by the Ministry of Agriculture, the Inter American Institute for Cooperation (IICA) and the World Bank, aimed to have key stakeholders in the agriculture sector deliberate on the predominant risk factors in agriculture in Guyana, potential initiatives and agricultural insurance tools that could be put in place to manage the risks affecting agriculture, among other objectives. During the symposium, stakeholders were divided into four working groups to discuss areas within the sector which needed to be addressed.
Participants deliberated on the legal/regulatory framework as it relates to agriculture insurance, weather information provided to farmers and producers as well as a public policy framework for managing agriculture in Guyana among other issues.
IICA representative to Guyana, Ignatius Jean told Stabroek News at the conclusion of the symposium that participants examined several grey areas within the sector and tried to decipher what needed to be done to address such issues.
He said that on the issue of weather information, it was noted that while it was an imperative for those affected by it, especially farmers and producers in terms of agriculture, there was still the need for an improvement in what was being provided by the authorities.
As regards agriculture insurance and its position within the legal framework, he said participants recognized that there is no legislation in Guyana which covers this. He said at present agriculture and its guarantees fall under general insurance regulations.
Jean elaborated that when there is a good risk analysis, the farmer/producer is in a better position to benefit from his/her insurance policy and this would be a boost for the alignment of the relationship between the agriculture and the financial sectors.
He said that at the forum, the rice industry was recognized as being one of the most organized agricultural industries while the Institute of Private Enterprise in Development (IPED) and its organizational structure was seen by those in attendance as a having a good platform which can be adopted to further develop the agriculture sector here.
Jean said proposals coming out of the symposium will have the full support of IICA, reiterating that once there is a good risk assessment evaluation/analysis the agriculture sector would see more collaboration from its partners, more so the financial sector.
The proposals will be presented to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud in the form of a report. He said the participants including representatives from several foreign agencies, who participated in the symposium, viewed the event as being an “exercise of sensitization of key stakeholders” in the sector; the foreign agencies said it was a model which can be used in other developing countries.
Several presentations were made throughout the three-day symposium which saw the banking sector calling for the realignment of the relationship between commercial banks and farmers.
The key objective of the consultative process was to solicit a feedback from stakeholders towards the formulation of a country strategy for agriculture risk management.
