Insurance companies have been asked to adopt a crop model strategy. To support the development of a weather index insurance, which would lead to increased crop production.

The call was made by the director of crop resources in the agriculture ministry, Okaasai Opolot.

He was officiating at the inauguration of the national weather index insurance task force at the Imperial Royal Hotel in Kampala.

Okaasai explained that the crop model will tell an insurance company or bank the basic factors affecting crop production like rain, drought, pests and diseases. Using this information, they can come up with an appropriate insurance policy and loan product.

"Having established the basic factors of crop production, the model will go ahead to explain how each factor affects crops. This will attract insurance firms or banks because they are sure they will not make losses," explained Okaasai.

The model will also encourage farmers to continue farming because there will be assurance of gains from their work despite weather changes.

"The model has been successful in South Africa," he added.

Dr. Charles Mukama, the programme coordinator, said the model was initiated by COMESA under the regional agro inputs programme to improve food security.

The taskforce will engage financial institutions and insurance companies to facilitate access to fi nancial services by farmers. The task force is composed of officials from the farmers' federation, Insurance Regulatory Authority, and banking institutions. The president of Eastern African Farmers Federation, Philip Kiriro, asked the members to work towards helping farmers access the service. This, Kiriro said, will increase crop production and reduce reliance on imported food.