Targeting the Agricultural Poor: The Case of PCIC's Special Programs

Under the Aquino administration, premium subsidies on agricultural insurance have significantly increased, mostly due to the special programs being implemented by the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC). This paper attempts to describe the various fully subsidized agricultural insurance programs of the PCIC, the rationale of each, the beneficiary selection procedures that they undertake, and highlight the implementation issues and concerns that might have policy and welfare implications crucial to their success. The paper finds that the lack of predictability or continuity in implementing these programs, coupled with difficulties in interagency coordination, has posed operational challenges in implementing these. There is also a need for an overarching policy to guide the administration of government subsidies in agricultural insurance, as well as guidelines on prioritization of beneficiaries, to help PCIC offer continued services to the identified beneficiaries and determine who to prioritize

Review of Design and Implementation of the Agricultural Insurance Programs of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation

The situation of the poor who participate in the country's agricultural sector has been exacerbated by the increasingly prevalent natural calamities, pests, and other such unpredictable event. However, there are certain risk management tools that aid in lessening the farmers' financial burden when losses related to such natural disasters are incurred. One of them is the crop or agricultural insurance. In the Philippines, the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) is the government organization that implements rice, corn, high-value commercial crop, livestock, noncrop agricultural asset, fishery, and term insurance programs. The question thus arises regarding the effectiveness and sustainability of the said programs. It is thus the purpose of this study to review the design and implementation of the PCIC's insurance programs. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions with various PCIC clients and partners in selected regions of the country, together with desktop review and secondary data analysis, were conducted

Evaluation of the registry service for basic sectors in agriculture

There are many and varied government programs that target the agriculture and fisheries sector, especially the poor. For more efficient and streamlined program targeting, the Aquino administration has initiated the creation of the Registry Service for Basic Sectors in Agriculture (RSBSA), a list of farmers, farm workers, and fisherfolk in the 75 provinces of the country excluding the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the National Capital Region. This is currently used by the Department of Budget and Management to target beneficiaries of various government agencies implementing agricultural support programs, and as a basis for issuing allocated budgets for these programs. This paper finds that there are legitimate agricultural producers that are excluded from the list, leakages, difficulty of the registry to be linked with other government databases, and unclear operational definition of farmer. But despite its shortcomings, the authors find that the RSBSA is useful as a targeting tool; the list just needs to be validated and regularly updated

Opportunities for strengthening agriculture insurance programs: PCIC and LGU partnerships

Providing agricultural insurance to farmers and fisherfolk in the Philippines has been implemented for nearly three decades. While it is agreed that agricultural insurance is crucial in assisting farmers, fisherfolk, and governments in lessening the negative financial impact of natural events, issues of providing premium subsidies and being tied to credit in the Philippines remain to be important policy issues. This paper reviews available information about partnerships between local government units (LGUs) and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation. The aim is to look at these innovations that may promote and enhance agricultural insurance in the Philippines. Providing for full premium subsidies and as a form of loan to the farmers was implemented by the LGUs reviewed in this paper. Further study is needed to determine which scheme works best in terms of increasing coverage over the long term and ensuring financial viability

Agricultural insurance program: Lessons from different country experiences

While agricultural insurance has long been considered a risk management tool for farmers in both developing and developed economies, policy directions toward sustainability vary across countries. Reviewing the literature provides a comprehensive view of relevant issues, such as objectives of the program, credit access by farmers, program costs, and premium subsidies provided by the national and local governments. This paper provides insights on how agricultural insurance programs from selected developed and developing economies were implemented. Learning from different country experiences, agricultural insurance is important yet costly to implement. Private insurance companies complement with the government-run insurance company to improve coverage rates. Targeting eligible beneficiaries is crucial in the success of a highly subsidized agricultural insurance, especially in developing economies