More action needed to help farmers

There needs to be less talking and more actions taken in the agriculture industry for the benefit of farmers.
This is the word of Wismar Greaves, Managing Director and CEO of the Insurance Corporation of Barbados Limited (ICBL). He made these comments at the Crop and Livestock Insurance Seminar held at the Lester Vaughan School yesterday.

Greaves made the point that farmers need the help that banks, credit unions and other financial institutions can provide, but which they are sometimes ineligible for without using their homes as security. He said that ICBL would like to see this treatment of farmers come to an end.

“Agriculture in Barbados is about a lot of talk. We talk and we talk and we talk and there is little action for farmers.
Farmers need access to credit. Banks, credit unions, financial institutions need security, so if a farmer approaches a credit union or a bank for a loan to carry on his farming activities, the first question that is raised is what is the security that you are going to put forward? Unfortunately, the farmers are being asked in this day and age to put their homes and their private vehicles as security for their farming operations, and we want to see this come to an end,” Greaves stated.

Explaining how his company can help farmers, the ICBL Managing Director told the farmers that investing in insurance can bring much needed peace of mind to farmers, whose lifelines depend on so many risk factors.

“Insurance can play a critical role to reduce the stress that is involved with farming…. We at ICBL want to bring peace of mind to you. Farming has more risks… and I do not believe that many of us understand the wide variety of risks that farmers take. There are risks related to praedial larceny… there is also the risk of pests… there is also the risk of finding the right market at the right time,” Greaves explained.