Mr Kenneth Egbaran, the Managing Director of Veritas Kapital Assurance has assured farmers affected by the 2020 flood in Sokoto State of prompt settlement of their insurance premium to defray their losses. Egbaran made the assurance on Tuesday in an interview with newsmen after he inspected farms affected by flood in Sokoto, Goronyo, Kware, Wamakko, and other areas in Sokoto state. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the farmers comprised members of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN), Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), and National Cotton Farmers Association of Nigeria (NACOFAN). He said the company is a solid leading agricultural insurance company targeted at providing good disaster cover to farming communities in the country.
” We are committed to ensuring that farmers’ losses were restored, to facilitate increased investments in the agricultural value chain. ” We build the capacity of farmers, promote expertise in agric business, and ensure partnership with other stakeholders in the agricultural sector. ”
Veritas Kapital Assurance is committed to actualise federal government’s vision on agricultural development and liase with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other partners to promote all categories of farming toward enduring food security and empowerment. ” Egbaran said. He said the present exercise was tagged ”Area Yield Index Insurance (AYII) which covers all forms of disasters that might affect harvests. Egbaran said his team has inspected all the affected farmlands to ensure that farmers benefit maximally with the insurance covers agreed according to the modalities. According to him, consultants and supervisors were also deployed to capture benefiting farmers and observe the correct situations on the ground, stressing that some teams were deployed to Kebbi. He added that farmers groups provided a list of their members and partnered with them in the assessment.
The Managing Director explained that farmer premium payments depend on farm sizes, adding that CBN intervened to facilitate the success of FG social intervention programmes. In their separate remarks, Sokoto state Chairmen of RIFAN and MAAN, Alhaji Ibrahim Salihu, and Alhaji Abubakar Danfoloti, commended Veritas Kapital Assurance for their prompt response. They explained that thousands of their members suffered losses due to increased rainfall experienced this year and appealed for prompt intervention in order to provide succor to them. The leaders noted that the insurance payment would motivate farmers and encourage them to invest more in agriculture.
SOURCE: VANGUARD