FULL ARTICLE

Report of Community Participatory Assessment of Government Expenditure on Agriculture (National and States)/Development of Community Score Cards on Smallholder Women Farmers Access to Agricultural Insurance Services in Nigeria

ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) is implementing Phase 3 of the Public Financing of Agriculture (PFA). The Phase 3 which is designed to strengthen and deepen Public Financing of Agriculture project, seeks to address the challenges of low voice and participation of Smallholder Women Farmers in agricultural policy making processes at local, state, and national levels. It also focuses on issues of poor access and control over land and low spending on smallholder agriculture by the government at all levels and little support to smallholder women farmers. These include lack of access to agricultural credit and finance; business development and advisory services, women-friendly Agricultural extension and market access, technology, crop insurance, etc.
Part of the project deliverable is supporting smallholder farmers to undertake annual assessment of government expenditure on the agricultural sector at the national and state levels and making such analysis available in a format appropriate for engaging key partners and for presentation to key officials. Therefore, the Food and Agriculture Team of ActionAid Nigeria intends to work with community and citizens groups and a consultant to carry out the assessment in Ondo, Kwara, Delta, Gombe, FCT, Bauchi, Kogi and Ebonyi States and at the national level.
In line with the objective of the PFA project to assess government expenditure on the agricultural sector at both national and state levels, the Smallholder Women Farmers and CSOs intend to monitor and assess quality of service provision under government’s agricultural insurance. The government’s insurance scheme was supposed to protect Smallholder Farmers from losses due particularly to climate change or any other eventuality at national and state level; to increase their production, productivity, and secure sustainable livelihoods. This assessment is intended to assess the extent to which the objectives of the existing agricultural insurance scheme are being achieved, who is benefitting, and to what extent it has contributed to tackling poverty among Smallholder Women Farmers and promoting their food security.
The assessment also sought to determine rationale for the existing agricultural insurance scheme as well as determine if smallholders were involved in the design and identification of priorities for funding. The assessment was able to provide tangible information as to the accessibility, appropriateness, timeliness, usefulness of the scheme and quality of service provision targeting smallholder farmers, especially women. The outcome of findings would provide CSOs, smallholder farmers and the communities with evidence for policy advocacy as well as holding government at the different tiers accountable and address the following areas:
i. The poor state of Agricultural Insurance uptake in Nigeria
ii. Statistical facts about gaps on Agricultural Insurance uptake in Nigeria, particularly as it relates to the Smallholder Women Farmers (SHWF).
iii. There is a need for the assessment as the outcome portends data for government policy decisions, Institutional Strengthening, state of Smallholder Women Farmers (SHWF) awareness, level of current Agricultural Insurance uptake etc.

Objectives of the Assessment
The general objective of the study was to evaluate community assessment of government expenditure in agriculture as it relates to agricultural insurance and Smallholder Women Farmers access to such services in Nigeria.
Specifically, the objectives include:
• To identify the government’s agricultural insurance scheme at both national and state levels covering who pays for the insurance premiums, the value for money, how compensation is calculated and handled; and who benefits within the household.
• To review the gender responsiveness (Determine the number of beneficiaries in relation to smallholder women farmers against other groups both at National and State level), accessibility, adequacy, appropriateness, usefulness and timeliness of the agricultural insurance scheme in addressing and compensating smallholder farmers, particularly women farmers’ losses due to climate change or other eventuality.
• To assess to what extent the objectives of the government’s agricultural insurance scheme have been achieved and or met its set targets.
• To determine if smallholders especially women were involved in the design and priority setting for funding areas as criteria for accessing such agricultural insurance scheme.
• To ascertain the level of government expenditure on agricultural insurance services that specifically targets and supports smallholder women farmers in the respective PFA States.
• To generate information on the quality of public service provision (What services are provided? When is the scheme triggered? Do smallholders’ benefit, did they get any compensation? What about landless who lost their incomes) in agricultural insurance and its contribution to ending poverty and hunger.
• To identify budgetary allocation against actual expenditure to agriculture insurance from 2014 - 2018 fiscal years with beneficiary analysis and ratios.
• To determine the percentage (%) of allocation and expenditure on agricultural insurance available to smallholder women farmers and cooperatives in relation to annual sector budget per state.

Design of the study
A survey research design was the design following a two-prong approach of eliciting data (information) from the providers (institution) of agricultural insurance as well as its users (beneficiaries). In survey research, information about human population in which direct contact is made with the unit of study. The unit of study could be organizations. Individuals and communities through the means of instrument, such as questionnaire, interview guides, focused group discussions and observation.
Area of the study: the study was undertaken across Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja and seven (7) States of the country which includes Kogi, Kwara and FCT (North Central Region) Bauchi (North West Region), Gombe (North East Region), Ondo (South West Region) Delta (South-South Region) and Ebonyi (South East Region).

Recommendation:
From the deductions on the findings of this study, the understated recommendations that would re-position and advance the acquisition of Government Agricultural Insurance GAI services especially as it relates to SHWF in Nigeria is hereby made below:
(i) Aggressive execution of awareness creation of GAI within rural communities in Nigeria.
(ii) Making agricultural insurance education and advisory services part of extension messages of extension staff of the state-wide Agricultural Development Programmes (ADP), Development Agencies, NGOs, and other farmers extension service providers.
(iii) Ensuring that the end-users (SHWF) of the GAI services are fully involved in the design, planning and implementation of the programme.
(iv) Both the Federal and State Governments should ensure strict adherence to timely remitting of their counterpart funds (subsidy) to NAIC to enable them to perform optimally.
(v) Lending institutions (Banks) especially BOA (Bank of Agriculture) should always remit promptly farmers premium to NAIC (Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation), to enable them be ready and respond promptly to payment of farmers losses.
(vi) NAIC should recruit more staff at the State level, followed by proper training on how to advance agricultural insurance education amongst SHWFs.
(vii) There was need to use local dialect in the effective communication of agricultural insurance education among SHWF.
(viii) There was need for more effective collaborations and synergy between major stakeholders (State ADPs, BOA, Ministry of Agriculture, NIRSAL and CBN) in the agricultural insurance sector.
(ix) There was need to ensure prompt payment of compensation to individual women farmers who have suffered losses. This will build trust, believe and confidence among farmers.
(x) There was need for dynamism in the sector, GAI services should for instance be reviewed to cover crop destruction by cattle and even post-harvest losses such as theft.
(xi) GAI scheme should target all farmers irrespective of whether they have loans or not. By this, self-insurance will be covered.
(xii) NAIC, should decentralize their operations to be more effective. For instance, more Area offices should be established at identified farming communities to facilitate mobilization of farmers, supervision, monitoring and proper verification of claims.
(xiii) NAIC, should emphasize and take seriously the education of their clients (farmers), especially SHWFs on modalities of insurance uptake, particularly the issue of yearly premium payment, even when no farm peril occurred the outgoing year, and equally paying their supposed benefits at time of farm perils.
(xiv) The issue of farmer-clients, SHWF inclusive having and keeping good farmer records to enable NAIC or other insurance undertakers, calculating their individual compensations in time of farm peril should be emphasized. This could be achieved through extension and advisory services.
(xv) Due diligence should be taken by credit (BOA) and insurance (NAIC) providers in identifying credible farmer cooperatives and groups to work with. Background checks should be properly made before engagement, through their supervisory or regulatory authorities.
(xvi) Lending institutions, particularly BOA, should upscale their mobilization efforts and education of group or individual farmer clients on the need to uptake insurance cover.
(xvii) There was urgent need for flexibility, diversification and increase in agricultural insurance products with mindset of making it particularly more affordable, accessible, and meeting the various needs of the farmers, especially SHWF.
(xviii) The importance of planning on the short, medium- and long-term basis by NAIC, in corporating in the process their institutional capacity needs funding and other resource needs to effectively cover Nigerian farmers, especially SHWF, should be done immediately.
(xix) In line with ensuring effective collaboration and introducing effectiveness in the system, NAIC could usurp the state-wide ADPs platform (Block meetings, FNTs) to raise the capacity of field extension agents (EAs, SMS) by training them on agricultural insurance practices to enable them be in a position to educate and advise farmers, especially SHWFs.