Esther Kanini, a beneficiary of ACRE Africa’s projects preparing her farm in Machakos County. Photo Credit: ACRE Africa
By Murimi Gitari, December 5, 2024, Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd (ACRE Africa), a subsidiary of ZEP-RE PTA Reinsurance celebrated ten years of de-risking farmers across Africa and providing innovative risk management solutions across different value chains and geographies, in a colorful ceremony in Nairobi.
Speaking during the ceremony, Ewan Wheeler, ACRE Africa Chief Executive Officer (CEO) highlighted the key achievements the organisation has made in the last ten years through development and refined a diverse portfolio of agricultural insurance and risk management advisory products that meet the farmers’ needs.
“In the next ten years, we look into the development of more technologies and innovations that will help us reach more farmers,” the CEO said.
The organisation has developed digital and product innovations that have enhanced holistic risk management solutions for agricultural producers, building resilient food systems. These advancements have helped address key challenges such as trust, accessibility, affordability, awareness, and financial and gender inclusion—paving the way for a more resilient and inclusive agricultural value chain.
ACRE Africa has grown its presence from three countries to more than 10, with smallholder farmers increasing their premium amounts from $50 cents to over $10 per season. Currently it has operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria with projects in Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Somalia.
‘’Since inception, we have insured more than 3.7 million farmers from a start of one and impacted over five million households and this year alone we were looking into serving about one million farmers here in Kenya with a vision of growing this number in ten million in the next ten years,” Mr Wheeler said.
Ms Ann Chelagat, the Director, Market Conduct at Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), congratulated ACRE Africa for its ten years transformative impact in supporting farmers and enhancing resilience in the agricultural sector.
“On behalf of IRA, I congratulate ACRE Africa for its exceptional commitment to innovation and collaboration in agriculture insurance over the past decade. Your work has brought to life the crucial role that insurance plays in protecting livelihoods, building resilience, and fostering sustainable growth in Kenya’s agriculture sector,” she added.
She also noted that over the last decade, the insurance industry has grown remarkably. In the year 2004, the penetration of agriculture insurance was less than one percent. However, according to IRA, there has been notable strides in product diversity and the industry’s ability to meet the unique needs of various sectors, including agriculture.
“I encourage all stakeholders to reflect on the journey ahead as scaling agricultural insurance needs continuous collaboration between government, insurers and innovators and greater investment in digital infrastructure to reach even the most remote farmers. A lot of awareness campaigns to educate farmers on the value of insurance in building resilience against climate risks,” Ms Chelagat said.
Wycliffe Mwake, a farmer from Makueni County joined the organisation in the year 2018 as a champion farmer working with 250 farmers. He says these farmers have been able to buy crop insurance noting that they had challenges at the initial stages as there was need for them to understand the benefits.
“ We do sensitization and trainings to these farmers and are now able to know more about crop insurance and buy premiums and get their pay outs which has enhanced trust,” he said.
The farmer noted that climate change effects can only be mitigated by agricultural insurance that will build farmer resilience. Mwake also highlligted that through the use of ACRE Africa’s mobile apps, farmers are now able to take photos of their crops throughout the season that are thereafter used in evaluation till the end of the season.
Farid Wangara, the Chief Insurance and Principal Officer at ACRE Africa), and who has been with the organisation for the last eight years said that it has been quite a journey for the organisation as it has involved a lot of exploring.
“One thing that we have been very integral with is training and capacity building for farmers. This is not only on agricultural insurance but bringing them to the core of what risks are in the agriculture sector. We have tried also to move the farmers from the normal subsistence farming and look into agriculture as agribusiness,” Wangara added.
According to the Chief Insurance and Principal Officer, the organisation works collectively with other partners. He urged various stakeholders to come together and develop policies towards agricultural insurance which has remained unregulated, a challenge that was also confirmed by Eileen Bureza from the ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development who said that agricultural insurance needs to be classified on its own, have its own standards and regulated.
