The revision of the charter of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. (PCIC) will allow more farmers to benefit from crop insurance, which will allow them to recover their losses caused by typhoons, pests and other natural calamities.
In a discussion paper, titled “Towards a More Inclusive Agricultural Insurance Program,” a research team led by Philippine Institute for Development Studies (Pids) President Celia M. Reyes said the amendments to the PCIC charter must focus on expanding its role as reinsurer for companies willing to offer agriculture insurance.
Currently, the PCIC only provides direct insurance coverage for individual farmers, farmers groups and self-financed farmers.
“Having more entities that offer agricultural insurance will lead to higher penetration rates, while keeping prices at affordable and competitive levels,” the Pids researchers said.
Apart from amending the PCIC charter, the researchers recommended the use of the Community-Based Monitoring System (CBMS) to better monitor and target farming households.
The PCIC currently uses the list of eligible farmers from the Registry System for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA) conducted by the Department of Budget and Management, and consolidated lists from various agencies. This includes the Departments of Agriculture (DA) and of Agrarian Reform, and National Irrigation Administration.
However, the Pids researchers said having different lists makes the RSBSA prone to exclusions. When there are farmers with the same name, one is automatically removed from the list to avoid duplication.
This can be avoided if the government will use the CBMS. The researchers said rider questions for farming households can help create an updated list of beneficiaries.
“By adding rider questions for farming households, [the government can] come up with a more updated, and complete, listing and geotagging of agricultural producers, and households, in the country,” they said.
The researchers also recommended the forging of partnerships between the PCIC, and local governments, to disseminate information and assistance to farmers in their locale. The PCIC is a government-owned and -controlled corporation attached to the DA.
They also urged the PCIC to target only farmers with at most 3 hectares of farmland to ensure that the financing they extend will benefit only smallholder farmers who are struggling financially.
This is important, the researchers said, since smallholder farmers comprise 88.9 percent of farm holdings and 48.4 percent of total farm area.
Created in 1978, the PCIC’s principal mandate is to provide insurance protection to farmers against losses arising from natural calamities, plant diseases, and pest infestations of their palay and corn crops, as well as other crops.
The PCIC also provides protection against damage to/loss of non-crop agricultural assets, including, but not limited to, machineries, equipment, transport facilities and other related infrastructures due to peril/s insured against.