For many farmers in northern Ghana, there is only one rainy season, and one chance to get planting right. A new insurance product aims to give them a second shot.
The Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP) is promoting its Germination Index Insurance (GII), which protects farmers when seeds fail to germinate because of prolonged drought or excessive rainfall, the Ghana News Agency reported on October 29.
How it works
Samuel Orison Yarney, GAIP's Marketing Officer, said farmers whose seeds fail to sprout because of bad weather receive compensation to cover the cost of seed and ploughing, so they can replant within the planting window.
"The idea is to resource the farmers to be able to buy seeds and replant within the planting window," he said.
The cover works within a 21-day planting window, helping affected farmers avoid losing an entire season. Yarney said this matters most in the Northern region, where farmers generally have a single cropping season and depend heavily on good weather and quality seed.
The scheme mainly targets smallholders in rural communities who rely on rain-fed farming.
Reaching farmers
According to GAIP, education and sensitisation have so far reached 4,000 farmers across 41 districts in the Oti, Bono East, North East and Upper East regions and parts of the Northern region. The product has been piloted with maize, soybean and rice farmers in the Northern and Upper West regions, and jingles are being produced in five local languages.
Data behind the payouts
Because payouts depend on weather, reliable data is key. Yarney said rainfall data comes from the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet), with technical support from the Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO) and the University for Development Studies. High-resolution readings from installed weather stations are merged with satellite data to run the scheme.
The insurance is being implemented by GAIP under the Ghana Insurers Association as part of the TEMBO Africa Project, which is funded by the European Union in partnership with Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.
Yarney spoke at a two-day online session for insurance companies hosted by the Ghana Insurance University College and GAIP. He said the benefits include protecting farmers' early investments, reducing losses from poor germination, boosting confidence and improving access to agricultural finance.
