Agricultural Insurance in Rwanda
Principles, Products, and Practices to Inform the
National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS)
An international convening on evidence and experience
25 May 2022, 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Ubumwe Grande Hotel, Kigali
Agriculture is fraught with risk. The type and severity of these risks varies by crop, market, agroecology, and institutional context. Rwanda’s fourth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA 4), which began in 2018 and continues to 2024, has prioritized a number of risk mitigation investments such as infrastructure development, technological innovation, and improved management of land, soils, and water. PSTA 4 also prioritizes innovation in financial services as a strategy for risk mitigation aimed at farmers and other value chain actors in the agriculture sector.
Agricultural insurance is rapidly emerging as a critical strategy to complement the PSTA 4 investments in infrastructure, technology, and natural resource management. The Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) launched the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) in April 2019 under the title “Tekana Urishingiwe Muhinzi Mworozi” (“Smallholder farmer, feel safe, you are insured”).” By working with Rwanda’s premier private insurance companies, the NAIS is developing financially viable insurance products coupled with a 40% subsidy from MINAGRI to manage risks and losses in crops and livestock.
As the NAIS expands in scope and coverage, and as new resources and actors are mobilized to support the scheme, it is a good time to reflect on principles, products, and practices in agricultural insurance. This convening is designed to offer new insights and lessons learned in support of NAIS. The convening will draw on both Rwanda’s own experience to date as well as the experiences of international experts who have worked with agricultural insurance programs in other countries with challenges similar to Rwanda. The convening was organized by MINAGRI and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) as a half-day event focusing on two specific themes, as follows.
- Fundamentals and principles of insurance: Why is conventional indemnity-based crop insurance problematic in smallholder farming systems, and what alternatives are available to address the limitations of conventional insurance?
- Insurance products and services: What types of products and services have been designed and tested in Rwanda and in other countries? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What kind of evidence do we have of their performance? What do we know, what don’t we know, and what do we need to know in order to expand the NAIS offerings and the viability of future products and services for Rwandan agriculture?
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Schedule of Event:
| Session 1: Overviews and perspectives on agricultural insurance
Moderator: Eric Gatera, Chief Technical Advisor, MINAGRI |
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| Opening remarks: The importance of learning about agriculture insurance | Jean Claude Musabyimana, Permanent Secretary, MINAGRI |
| Progress report on the implementation of the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme | Joseph Museruka, NAIS Program Manager, MINAGRI |
| Data, evidence and strategy: The promise and pitfalls of agricultural insurance | David Spielman, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI |
| Innovations in agricultural insurance and digital services | Jean Bosco Iyacu, CEO, Access to Finance Rwanda |
| Session 2: Keynote address
Moderator: Gilberthe Benimana, Research Analyst, IFPRI |
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| The fundamental of agricultural insurance: From indemnity-based insurance to alternative approaches | Berber Kramer, Senior Research Fellow, IFPRI |
| The importance of data, analysis, and innovation to realize the objectives of PSTA 4 | Hon. Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, Minister of State, MINAGRI |
| Session 3: Rapid-fire roundtable on product innovations in agricultural insurance
Facilitator: Ewan Wheeler, CEO, ACRE Africa |
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| Picture-based insurance | Samson Dejene, Research Analyst, IFPRI |
| Soil moisture index insurance | Joseph Chege, ACRE Africa |
| Sonarwa General Insurance Co. | Jean Gatera, Reinsurer Manager |
| Bank of Kigali General Insurance Co. | Alex Bahizi, Managing Director |
| Old Mutual (formerly UAP) | Kevin Kaguati Rumanyika, Chief Operation Officer |
| Radiant Yacu Ltd. | Ovia Tuhairwe, Chief Executive Officer |
| KCB-BPR | Odil Mukayiranga, Agribusiness Manager |
| Umutanguha Finance Company Ltd. | Yve Nfura, Agri-Finance Manager |
| Gosheni Finance PLC | Gertrude Munyana, Product Development & Marketing Manager |
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