Nairobi — Small-scale farmers are now being insured against the effects of drought and excessive rain.

This follows a pilot phase for the new Weather Indexed Crop Insurance developed by UAP and Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture.

According to UAP head of marketing and distribution, Mr Joseph Kamiri, the product was developed in response to insurance needs of farmers.

"We realised that many small-scale farmers had more failed crop seasons than successful ones and brought them this product to develop a sustainable way of crop farming," he said.

The product has been tested and saw UAP hand over compensation payouts in form of inputs to farmers who were affected by the prolonged drought situation in Laikipia East district.

The compensation followed 18 months work in developing an index-based insurance scheme targeted at smallholder farmers.

Under the system, farmers register their purchases by sending an SMS to a phone number provided by UAP. The weather stations then monitor the weather and inform the insurance company of impending crop failure and subsequent compensation. Each farmer is then informed via SMS about the payouts.

"We intend to roll it out to other parts of Kenya next year," said Ms Rose Goslinga Insurance coordinator of Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture in Kenya.