At least 10,000 farmers in Makueni County will benefit from the Drive Insurance programme funded by World Bank (WB) through the State Department of Livestock.
A local County Livestock Development Officer Mr. James Mutia revealed that the World Bank will pay 80% of the Insurance Cover while the farmer was expected to foot the remaining 20% of the cost per cow in cases where they lost their livestock due to natural causes including drought.
He said that under the programme, a farmer is expected to register a minimum of three cows and a maximum of five or 10 goats or sheep which is equivalent to one cow.
“A farmer is compensated when drought triggers the death. If a farmer register’s three animals, qualifies for a seed bonus of Sh8,000 (80%) in his account. A farmer only pays Sh432,” said Mutia in a County Steering Group (CSG) Meeting co-chaired by the Makueni Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili and Kathozweni Deputy County Commissioner Annabel Gitonga held in a hotel in Wote town on Tuesday.
“Every farmer is expected to have an active bank account with either Kenya Commercial, Equity, Cooperative or family Banks. The insurance goes for one year,” he added.
Mutia disclosed that 50 mobilizers have been identified from the community and each is registering at least 200 farmers from the targeted 20 wards in the county.
Consequently, he added that a training of the 50 community mobilizers has been scheduled from August 20 to 23 2024. They will in turn train the farmers in their respective areas on how the insurance works.
By Patrick Nyakundi
