From Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe

No fewer than 299 smallholder farmers have been identified in four North-East states of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and Gombe to receive N6.9 million as Insurance payout claims to supplement yield lost during the 2022 farming season.

The insurance payout was to cushion the effect of the adverse climatic conditions on farm produce harvested by farmers at the end of the 2022 wet season, where flooding and rainfall affected the yield of the smallholder farmers.

According to the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA) the 299 smallholder farmers who qualified to receive the insurance payout claims were supported by the USAID-funded RRA.

The Chief Party of the RRA, Margarita Aswani said the payout will supplement the low yields recorded by farmers in the wet season, due to the flooding that led to the massive destruction of farmlands in the Northeast.

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She said farmers in Gombe and Yobe states, who acquired farmers’ insurance between July and December 2022, have received their payout claims last week, “while eligible participants in Borno and Adamawa states will receive their payout this week.

She said, “For us, it’s about helping our participants to build resilience to economic and climatic shocks like flooding and drought.”

Mercy Corps Nigeria Country Director, Mr. Ndubisi Anyanwu said the payout would reduce the losses of participants who lost part of their yield to flood and drought, and prepare them for the next wet season.

He explained that each of the qualified smallholder farmers from the four states is eligible to receive between N15,000 and N30,000 based on the type of crop and insurance policy.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had stated that the flood has affected 245,361 people and led to the destruction of 27,339 Hectares of farmlands in Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, and Gombe states.