By Alex Enemanna

It was Winston Churchill considered by many to be the greatest Briton of all time and the most famous British Prime Minister who noted, "We make a living by what we get but we make a life by what we give".

For Folashade Joseph, the Director General of National Agricultural Insurance Corporation, NAIC she is the quintessential definition of a patriot who has given her all and wholeheartedly so in the service of her fatherland and betterment of her society. She has through her innovative and creative mind made a web of happy, confident and satisfied farmers, a situation that has in turn been of immense value in the country's quest for food security.

Little wonder the President, Muhammadu Buhari on the ground of merit, performance, hard work, dedication, commitment and service delivery in 2021 reappointed her for a fresh tenure of four years to head the federal government-owned insurance company with the mandate of providing agricultural risks insurance cover to Nigerian farmers.

Since creation on November 15, 1987, Nigerian farmers have not had it this good in terms of robust policies to give them an insurance cover over unforeseen losses on their investment. Under the leadership of the indefatigable Director General Joseph Folashade, we have seen a NAIC that is competent and committed to making agriculture an attractive venture, thereby reducing the country's burgeoning unemployment rate, reducing uncontrolled rural-urban migration, putting into useful engagement the country's vast arable farmland and ensure sufficiency of food and at an affordable rate in the market for our people.

We have seen a NAIC poised to living up to its mandate of providing financial support to farmers for losses from natural hazards in quick and prompt manner, a NAIC charting a new road map on ways to provide credit to farmers, promote employment generation through a planned agricultural production policy, minimize the need for government's intervention during disaster periods as was the case in the past.

Irrespective of what type of agriculture one is involved in, the renewed and reinvigorated NAIC leadership has created something special to give you the needed backing in terms of eventuality and ensure you bounce back bigger and better. Whether crop, poultry, livestock farming or any activity that involves food production, there is a policy action put in place to arouse your interest under the NAIC roof.

Under the subsidized crop policy for instance introduced by the Director General, the farmer is only expected to pay 50 percent premium on insurance cover of food crops while the balance of fifty percent is paid by the Federal and State Government of the location where the farm resides in a ratio of 3:1 respectively. What this implies is that the burden of premium payment for insurance is lifted from the shoulder of the farmer by half while the federal government and state government housing the farmland bear the cost by half as well.

NAIC in its wisdom has enlarged the perils under this cover to include loss or damage resulting from fire, lightning, explosion, aircraft damage, windstorm, flood and drought. Crops such as maize, rice, cassava, yam, millet, sorghum, Irish potato, soya bean, cowpea, fluted pumpkin, melon, groundnut, vegetable, sesame, wheat, sweet potato and mixture of the these crops are well covered under this policy. Can you beat that?

Also, under its subsidized livestock policy, only fifty percent of the premium is paid by the farmer while the federal government and state government where the farm is located offset the balance of fifty percent in a ratio of 3:1 respectively. Under this policy, the risks covered include death of animals/birds/fishes due to disease, accident, fire, lightning, storm and flood.

Here, cattle (Dairy and Fattening), poultry, including parent stock, layers, broilers, and cockerels are covered. Also under NAIC insurance are Turkey, including meat and breeder, ducks, pigs including fattening and breeders, sheep, ram & goats, fishery, rabbitery including its meat and breeders, grasscutters, snailery and beef keeping.

These deliberate efforts have undoubtedly protected the Nigeria farmers from the effects of natural hazards, ensuring they remain in the business of flooding out markets with food sufficient and affordable for all citizens.

In a society where there is a general apathy for insurance, the DG has not backed down in her advocacy campaign in enrolling more farmers into the insurance net of the NAIC. This is predicated on her conviction that the encumbrances against food security in Nigeria and Africa are many, and taking insurance policies and coverage for today’s farmers, no matter how small-scale, is inevitable.

Insurance mitigates against risks and this accounts to why NAIC did not only announce a 50% subsidy on agricultural insurance but has remained faithful in its implementation. Aware how risk-prone agriculture is in Nigeria, the leadership of Folashade Joseph is not oblivious that it has been compounded further by insecurity, apart from natural, biological and environmental disasters, in addition to climate change concerns. This is why the heightened campaign for large and small scale farmers to take advantage of the discounted insurance premium available in NAIC will continue. Interestingly, the redirected leadership sees the media as partner in ensuring that a larger number of our farmers in both the rural and urban centres are aware of this golden opportunity.

It is a good thing that farmers and agro-investors are enjoying a reasonable level of support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), its offshoot, the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc), but the value chain in the ago-industry cannot be fully harnessed without the input of NAIC who ensures that the large chunk of investment by the Federal Government in the sector does not go down the drain by providing insurance cover. Interestingly, the Director General has indeed done well in drumming this to the ear of everyone interested in listening.

At the discussion table for food security in the country, we are eager to talk about massive investments in irrigation infrastructure, rehabilitation of the existing ones, climate change mitigation strategies, avoidance of farming activities in flood-prone areas as holistic ways of preventing farmland devastation and food shortages, yet agricultural insurance most times do not get a mention. This is traceable to low level of awareness, a challenge the DG has frontally taken on and the result visibly seen in the number of enrollment the corporation witnesses daily.

As I bring this piece to a close, it is important to note that since inception, NAIC has given coverage to agricultural projects worth over a trillion Naira investments across the country. Talking about losses and compensation, the corporation has also paid out several billions of naira as claims to farmers of various classes from inception to date.

Even with this, the DG's commitment to churn out products to the already existing subsidised crops insurance, commercial crops insurance, subsidised livestock insurance, commercial livestock insurance, combined agricultural produce and investment policy that will further minister to the needs of our farmers in unparalleled.

She has without any scintilla of doubt sufficiently justified reason for her appointment by no less a person than the President of the Federal Republic, President Muhammadu Buhari. For coming, seeing and conquering, DG Folashade Joseph deserves our applause.

Enemanna writes from Abuja