Scheme To Cushion Burden On Farmers

Natural disasters are some of the biggest threats sugarcane farmers face every day.

And every time there is a disaster, farmers have to take on a loan or use up their savings to pay for the damage.

These are some of the experiences shared by farmers in the western division, particularly in Nadi, Lautoka and Ba.

However, an opportunity is on the horizon for five farmers who are currently members of an insurance scheme by the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP).

The parametric micro insurance scheme insures against excessive rainfall and is offered by three private firms – Fiji Care Insurance, Sun Insurance and Tower Insurance.

It is jointly administered by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security and the United Nations Development Programme.

It is a multi-year regional programme presently covering Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu with plans for phased expansion into other Pacific countries, including Samoa, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Timor-Leste.

The Programme aims to provide Pacific communities with climate and disaster risk financing solutions that help them address the growing impacts of climate change.

The Programme receives funding support from the Governments of New Zealand, Australia, India and Luxembourg.

Five of them, among other sugarcane farmers, had received their first pay-out last month and were happy to share about their excitement.

They were part of the $100,000 payout made to 535 members.

Widow Pleased With  Insurance Plan

Lautoka farmer, Premila Devi.

For the past 11 years, Salaseini Koroi has been toiling the land in Buabua, Lautoka, as part of her retirement plan.

“I’m a retired schoolteacher. I was a teacher for 32 years,” she said.

“I decided to come back to the farm and do this work.

But she often stumbled upon heavy water trapped in her sugarcane farm.

“It was not long after I started farming, my farm started to suffer from bad weather,” she said.

Ms Koroi said she would spend some time on the farm with her husband to clean up the mess a disaster had left behind.

The sight of sugarcane plants stuck underwater was a common one.

They had grown weary from this and age was limiting them from handling their production.

However, the parametric insurance brought much relief to their lives.

“We need money to have money and that is why I signed up for it.

“I came to know about parametric insurance last year.

“It is different from others because this was for the farm.

Ms Koroi loves to give back to the community, and she has made it her mission to help widowed women start their sugarcane farm.

Story by: josefa.babitu@fijisun.com.fj