The Banana Production Improvement Project is continuing its sensitization exercise to educate farmers on the importance of having their farms insured.
Project Manager Kerde Severin said this year, the plan is to get most of the farmers registered with the Caribbean Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company or CCRIF SPC. In 2007, the facility became the world’s first regional risk pool to cover hurricanes and earthquakes.
Payouts of more than USD$55 million were made to 10 CCRIF SPC member states in September 2017, following the devastating effects of hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Another area of interest for the Banana Production Improvement Project, is a pension plan for farmers.
“The way forward is to register all the farmers with the NIC so they can begin to make a contribution to the NIC so when they get to a ripe old age when they can no longer farm they, like all of us, will be entitled to a pension. This has been welcomed by the farming community and we want during the month of May to begin the registration; so we are hoping that by May or June, all our banana farmers would be registered and will begin to make NIC contributions.”
Severin also expressed optimism that despite the challenges facing the industry, banana production can potentially yield up to 60,000 tons over the next four years.
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