Guyana launches free crop insurance programme for rice farmers

The Guyana government on Tuesday launched the first-ever crop insurance programme for rice farmers, with President Irfaan Ali saying that it will provide free coverage for 6,000 rice farmers across Guyana, particularly those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The coverage will span an initial three-year period.

“For years we have talked about crop insurance, but little traction was made until now. That is what makes today so historic. This programme is not just relief, it is a lifeline,” President Ali said.

He said that the crop insurance programme is a result of a unique partnership between the Government of Guyana, UPL Costa Rica, and Philip Morris International, PMI, based in the United States.

“This agreement among the Guyana Rice Development Board, UPL and PMI has resulted in a product that will support rice farmers who are most exposed to climate risks,” said Ali. “What you’re getting today, farmers around the world are longing for. But you can lose all of this in the blink of an eye if you do not do what is right for your families, your communities, your country,” he said.

The Guyanese president also noted that the increasing threats of floods, droughts, and other external shocks have pushed many farmers to the brink, with little to no protection against total crop loss.

“We all know the pain associated with crop failure. We’ve seen it with floods, with pest infestation, with erratic weather, and we’ve seen what it does to your finances and to your ability to recover. This insurance is here to break that cycle,” he said, adding that farmers in communities like Hampton Court, Devonshire Castle, and Walton Hall in Region Two have frequently suffered from flooding and harvest loss.

“To those farmers, this programme is not a promise, it is a guarantee. It is the protection you deserve,” Ali remarked.

The crop insurance initiative is part of the government’s broader agricultural vision, which President Ali described as climate-smart, technology-driven, and people-focused.

“We’re not building this food sector halfway. We’re going all in investing in research, in drone technology, in high-yielding rice varieties, and now in comprehensive risk management tools like crop insurance,” he said.

President Ali also challenged the banking sector to take note of the reduced risk this insurance brings, and to lower lending costs for farmers accordingly.

“With this insurance, the risk is reduced. And the cost of lending to farmers must reduce. That is non-negotiable. No more seven to eight per cent interest. Our farmers must be able to borrow at three to five per cent and the government will subsidise the rest, to zero per cent,” he said.

He also spoke of other assistance provided assistance to the rice industry over the past four years, including the removal of VAT on fuel, agrochemicals, machinery, and equipment, the GUY$1.5-billion settlement with Panama over payments to Guyanese farmers, GUY$3.6 billion for fertiliser, flood relief, and seed quality, and the GUY$2 billion of planned expenditure for continuing assistance with fertiliser assistance in 2025.

Additionally, the government is “moving to create a minimum baseline” price of GUY$4,000 per bag of rice by providing a GUY$300 per bag of paddy, so that “our farmers will know that there is viability in production in their farms”, he said.

“These are not just policies. They are real investments in your lives and communities. This is what a government that cares looks like,” Ali said, adding that the government plans to implement a pilot of innovative rice farming systems, including modern drone technology and eco-friendly practices to protect the environment.

“By the first crop of 2026, we want complete drone application from fertilisation to pesticide spraying. And we’re going to support the farmers by grouping them into clusters, giving them the tools and logistics to reduce costs and increase returns.”

Agriculture Minister Zulfikar Mustapha said that under the insurance programme, farmers will “not pay insurance premium every month like how the normal insurance works”, and the insurance product would “support and cover farmers in the event of extreme adverse weather conditions, such as flooding and drought”.

The initiative would help to reduce risk and empower farmers to plant, plan and produce “with greater confidence, knowing that help is available when nature strikes hardest”, Minister Mustapha said.

CMC