AGRICULTURAL INSURANCE IN LATIN AMERICA: OBSERVATIONS AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS David C. Hatch Assistant Deputy Director General November 2008 Santiago, Chile
Agriculture s True Contribution To The Economy Traditional measurements of agriculture s contribution to Gross Domestic Product is generally less than 10% of GDP and declining. The following table shows that the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (Ag GDP) of the countries included in the study was just fewer than 7% in 1997, except for Costa Rica (11.34%) and Colombia (8.00%). The new indicator shows that the real contribution of agriculture and agrifood to GDP is considerably greater. Thus, for the countries in the study, agriculture and agrifood contributed approximately on average 30% of the Gross Domestic Product in 1997. In Chile s case, using traditional measurements, agriculture accounted for less than 6% of the GDP. When applying a broader definition the output totaled over 32%!
Agriculture s True Contribution To The Economy The Table shows The Contribution of Primary Agriculture and Agriculture and Agrifood to the Gross Domestic Product. Data taken from IICA Publication: More Than Food On the Table: Agriculture s True Contribution To The Economy
KEY OBERVATIONS Agriculture plays a significant role in virtually any economy Sound research exists to substantiate the linkage of effective climate risk management and poverty reduction Sound research exists to substantiate the linkage between insurance, lending and economic vitality The world-wide donor community has been addressing agriculture insurance in a fragmented fashion The World Bank has taken the lead in developing agricultural insurance programs among the donor community. It identified agriculture insurance as 1 of 10 key initiatives to address the food security crisis.
KEY OBERVATIONS (cont) Both the donor and the private sector communities expressed interest in working together on projects and see IICA s role as strategically significant There is a broader donor community, principally oriented to poverty eradication, that offers significant funding and partnership opportunities Governments and the Central Banks must take the first step to attracting the private sector through regulatory changes Insurance is segmented into three areas: Weather index, traditional insurance and micro-insurance
KEY OBERVATIONS (cont) A significant weather index reinsurance facility is planned for operation soon. The insurance community is very interested in expanding agriculture insurance. It is evaluating the work of each country in developing a sound program before entering into the market. Specific, scalable projects in carefully selected countries are key to success Disaster assistance is a political tool that has proven to be expensive and poorly administered
CRITICAL CONCEPTS Risk Management Can Help Break the Poverty Cycle Insurance + Lending = Economic Growth Disaster Assistance is Not the Solution The Private - Public Sector Model is Best There is No Single Insurance Solution The Government Must Take the First Step Agricultural Insurance is an economic tool and not a political football Sound underwriting Information (e.g. production, losses: weather data) are essential to an actuarially sound program.
Preferred Insurance Model: A True Public-Private Private Sector Partnership Government Legislation and Finance Insurance/Finance Community Program Leadership/Administration Agriculture Community
No Single Insurance Solution Lenders
Taking the First Step: Essential Government Actions Adequate awareness and appreciation at the ministerial and central bank level for the role insurance plays in eradicating poverty Effective cooperation between the agriculture and finance ministers will be essential Revise regulatory framework to address such issues as: tax treatment, cooperatives, government oversight, subsidies, immigration/residency provisions for selected professions, and long term program stability Create a comprehensive risk management model with risk profile to include weather data, climate maps, crop damages, risk maps
Common Reasons for Failure 1. Insufficient underwriting information (e.g crop, location, costs, weather) 2. Poor supervision of the program 3. Lack of experience calculating actuarially sound premiums 4. Inadequate regulatory framework 5. Lack of experienced professionals 6. Counterproductive premium subsidies 7. Providing disaster assistance when insurance is available 8. Expanding the program too rapidly
Building the Correct Foundation: Survey the landscape-cultivate the field Secure long term commitment with key financial institutions Develop a comprehensive data base the guaranties integrity and permits sound analysis Create the correct legal, regulatory and financial environment Introduce global reinsurers early Determine a country-wide risk retention strategy based upon a risk profile of Chile Learn from the experiences of other countries continually Secure buy in from the agricultural sector-begin with education
Building the Correct Foundation: Survey the landscape-cultivate the field (cont) Promote cooperatives and other farmer associations Carefully evaluate the adequacy of local insurance companies Carefully craft the wording of each document Create an independent fraud detection department Establish an organizational structure and staff expertise with significant relevant experience Start slowly and carefully with limited covers (e.g. hail and then selected multi-peril) Integrate technical organizations and resources to promote good farming practices-provide easy access
Public Policy Sequencing Framework for Developing the Market for Agricultural Insurance MULTI- MINISTRY EVALUATION OF PUBLIC POLICY FOR AG. INSURANCE [1] Market Failure Risk Layer (High) Disaster Response Products/ Programs MARKETING UNDERWRITING CLAIMS TRANSITION TO PRIVATE MARKET ADMINISTRATION (Optional) RISK LAYERING/ BENEFICIARIES [2] Individual Risk Management. Products/ Programs PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MULTI-MINISTRY PUBLIC GOOD AND SERVICES [3] Market Insurance Layer (Medium) Risk Retention Layer (Low) Savings Micro Credit/ Insurance OVERSIGHT INFORMATION SYSTEMS LEGAL/REG. FRAMEWORK REGIONAL COOPERATION Institutional Arrangements Adapted with permission from Inter-American Development Bank (Arias and Covarrubias-2006)
Defining Moment Truly a unique and pivotal time for agriculture Promote agriculture s direct and significant role in a country s economy; far more than is commonly understood Promote effective agriculture risk management (good farming practices and insurance) as a fundamental means to reduce poverty and expand the economy Promote the linkage of insurance/risk management to food security
Defining Moment (cont) Promote technology and innovation to Latin America now; expands agriculture base, strengthens economies, reduces poverty and helps address global crisis in the shorter term Why Latin America? Latin America s natural resources are more plentiful and easier to harness, and existing infrastructure are far more advanced than Africa s Africa requires 3-5 generations of intense investment compared to 1-2 generations in Latin America with far less investment
The coming years will see more emerging economies being able to benefit from an expanding global market for their farm output as a result of ongoing trade liberalization and increasing focus on rural development. To take advantage of these opportunities, however, they will have to strengthen their agricultural sectors in terms of bothriskmanagement andcommercial incentives Swiss Re 2007
Thank You!