Move underway to introduce cattle insurance

A move is underway to introduce cattle insurance for small and marginal farmers to reduce the risk of death of their cattle during natural calamities, officials said.
Financial Institutions Division under the Ministry of Finance is working on the issue, they said, adding that the division has asked for opinions after Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has made a proposal for launching a cattle insurance project styled Bangladesh Agriculture and Disaster Insurance Programme (BADIP) in the country.
On the other hand, Department of Livestock Services (DLS) is working to start cattle insurance in the country.
Bangladesh is a developing and agro-based country. Economy of the country depends mainly on agricultural production, a high official of DLS said.
Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world in terms of natural and anthropogenic hazards. A big amount of agricultural output is getting damaged due to natural disasters like floods, cyclones, droughts, excessive rains and hailstorms every year. So, overall agriculture management and farmers' families face a huge setback, he added.
The farmers cannot carry out normal agricultural activities due to financial crisis. Besides, agricultural production is hampered, he said, adding that farmers become bankrupt and the country's economy faces pressure during natural calamities.
The proposal made by SDC to launch cattle insurance scheme on a pilot basis is very import to reduce the death risk of cattle during natural disasters, he added.
"We are taking opinions on the SDC proposal. State-owned Sadharan Bima Corporation has already given opinions in this regard," a high official of the Financial Institutions Division said.
The initiative is now in initial stage, he also mentioned.
"More or less 3-5 per cent cattle die for natural calamities and of different diseases," Director of DLS Md Mazharul Alam Akanda told the FE.
"Now we are discussing the issue of cattle insurance with the World Bank. But it has not been finalised yet," Director (extension) of DLS Dr Md Mehedi Hasan told the FE on Tuesday.
Currently, the country has a total of 23.7 million cows while buffaloes over 1.4 million, sheep over 3.2 million and goats over 25 million, according to DLS data.

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