3 cooperatives sign up for scheme that will provide their members with insurance cover against tropical cyclones

3 cooperatives have signed up to ensure their members can benefit from the Pacific’s First Meso level Anticipatory Action Pilot Insurance Scheme, which will provide farming groups with insurance cover against tropical cyclones.

The Tailevu Dairy Farmers Cooperative Association Limited, Cane Farmers’ Cooperative Savings and Loans Association Limited and Fiji Rice Ltd have signed up for this.

What this means is if there are early warnings such as wind speed and weather forecasts, payments will be triggered and paid out before damage occurs so that the farmers can safely move their families and livestock before the cyclone hits.

Tailevu Dairy Farmers Cooperative Association Limited, Interim Chairman Rusiate Korovusere says they have around 1,400 shareholders and their members usually pay $100 for one cyclone season, but for this new product the cooperative will pay the premium which is $5,000 for a payout of upto $50,000.

Korovusere says if the weather forecasts say a cyclone is coming towards Dawasamu, then the payout will be given to Tailevu Dairy who will then identify the shareholders that live there and get the money to them, so they can prepare themselves.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, aims to address financial and social protection gaps at micro, meso, and macro levels caused by disasters by implementing an anticipatory solution in Fiji.

To enhance disaster readiness and limit losses through pre-arranged funding, Weather Risk Management Service has designed a meso-level parametric solution for 3 aggregators in Fiji.

The product feature is a payout upto 20 percent of sum insured based on early warning triggers related to wind speed.

This payout would happen from 3 to 2 days before the forecast event.

Additional payout if any would be calculated once the final cyclone track data is published.

An aggregator gets a maximum coverage of $50,000.

Head of Pacific Sub-regional Office, United Nations office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Gabrielle Emery says they have been involved in the program on the preparedness around a cyclone and then supporting them with financing so that the communities can take the necessary action before disaster strikes so that they can keep themselves and their families safe.

The pilot product is offered by Sun Insurance and supported by the Italian Government, India UN Development Partnership Fund, New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme, Australian Aid and Government of Luxembourg.