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The Potential for Scale and Sustainability in Weather Index Insurance

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THE POTENTIAL FOR SCALE AND SUSTAINABILITY IN WEATHER INDEX INSURANCE<br />

FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL LIVELIHOODS<br />

<strong>Insurance</strong> Programme<br />

Table 14: Programme basics<br />

Programme Forage Ra<strong>in</strong>fall Plan <strong>in</strong> Ontario, Canada<br />

Project leads Agriculture <strong>and</strong> Agri-Food Canada<br />

Client Producers of <strong>for</strong>age <strong>in</strong> Ontario<br />

Insurer AgriCorp<br />

<strong>Weather</strong> data provider Environment Canada<br />

Crops Forage<br />

Risks Drought<br />

<strong>Index</strong> Ra<strong>in</strong>fall<br />

Premium Varies accord<strong>in</strong>g to plan <strong>and</strong> subsidy<br />

Farmers <strong>in</strong>sured 1,945 <strong>in</strong> 2008<br />

History<br />

In 2003 the Forage Pilot was renamed the Forage Ra<strong>in</strong>fall Plan <strong>and</strong> became a <strong>for</strong>mal part<br />

of the Government’s Production <strong>Insurance</strong> (PI) programme. 44 PI protects farmers aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />

yield reductions <strong>and</strong> crop losses due to adverse weather <strong>and</strong> other <strong>in</strong>sured perils. In<br />

addition to PI, <strong>in</strong> 2003 the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) established the Canadian<br />

Agricultural Income Stabilization (CAIS) programme to protect farm operators from decl<strong>in</strong>es<br />

<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>come by comb<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g stabilization assistance with disaster assistance. In 2008, APF was<br />

replaced by the new five-year Grow<strong>in</strong>g Forward policy framework, which established<br />

AgriInvest <strong>and</strong> AgriStability. <strong>The</strong>se programmes replaced CAIS, <strong>and</strong> PI cont<strong>in</strong>ued under the<br />

new framework.<br />

Participat<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> both AgriStability <strong>and</strong> the Forage Ra<strong>in</strong>fall Plan maximizes the benefits of<br />

government risk-management programmes. Depend<strong>in</strong>g on weather <strong>and</strong>/or market<br />

conditions, <strong>in</strong> a given year clients could receive an AgriStability benefit, a Forage Ra<strong>in</strong>fall<br />

Plan claim, or both.<br />

Geographical coverage<br />

<strong>The</strong> pilot programme started with five counties <strong>in</strong> Ontario. By 2003 coverage was extended<br />

to seven counties <strong>and</strong> two districts.<br />

Target group <strong>and</strong> crops<br />

<strong>The</strong> target population <strong>for</strong> this programme is the Ontario farmers, l<strong>and</strong>lords <strong>and</strong><br />

sharecroppers who grow <strong>for</strong>age. <strong>The</strong> <strong>in</strong>surable crop is <strong>for</strong>age that consists of grass <strong>and</strong><br />

legume plant species <strong>in</strong> either pure or mixed st<strong>and</strong>s that were seeded <strong>in</strong> a previous<br />

calendar year. This <strong>in</strong>cludes hay l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>tensively managed, improved <strong>and</strong> unimproved<br />

pasture l<strong>and</strong>.<br />

44 Production <strong>Insurance</strong> is a nationwide federal/prov<strong>in</strong>cial/producer cost-shared crop <strong>in</strong>surance programme. It<br />

protects farmers aga<strong>in</strong>st yield reductions <strong>and</strong> crop losses due to adverse weather <strong>and</strong> other <strong>in</strong>sured perils. In<br />

Ontario, PI is delivered by AgriCorp <strong>and</strong> is available <strong>for</strong> 90 crops, <strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g <strong>for</strong>age. More than 16,000 Ontario<br />

producers with more than 5 million acres of farml<strong>and</strong> are covered by PI.<br />

ANNEX<br />

123

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