Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries-Agriculture Insurance Program (ARB-AIP)
A program being implemented by Department of Agriculture (DA) and Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) in partnership with the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation
(PCIC) which aims to protect agrarian reform beneficiaries against losses due to pest and
disease infestations, natural calamities and extreme weather conditions brought about by
climate change. The national government allocated PhP 1 Billion for agricultural insurance
coverage of at least 224,036 agrarian reform beneficiaries nationwide.
Weather-index Based Insurance
It is an agriculture risk transfer mechanism for climate change adaptation and risk reduction
in the Philippines. Weather index insurance (WII) is a risk transfer instrument that pays
out compensation based not on actual losses experienced by an insured individual,
organization or institution, but once a weather index is triggered. After an extreme weather
event such as floods or drought, an insured person or organization is assured of immediate
compensation as long as a weather index is breached such as rainfall (if the amount of
rainfall exceeded the normal amount), wind speed (the velocity of the wind exceeded the
average wind speed passing through a particular locality) or dry days (number of days
without rain has exceeded the average within a municipality).
This program was just recently rolled-out in the Philippines by the Bankers Assurance
Corporation (BAC) under the name of Credit Asenso. It offers lending institutions security
for their operation or loan portfolio especially since the country is visited by typhoons at
least 20 times per year. Some of these fall within the trigger events defined by the product.
It uses a state-of-the-art satellite technology that determines event triggers for rainfall and
wind speed. This technology ensures that claims are determined on a real time basis or can
be viewed online thus there is no need for lengthy and time consuming claims
investigations and loss adjustments. Based on their location in the Philippines, trigger
indices for wind speed and rainfall have been developed for each municipality, which
makes it an innovative product in the Philippine’s micro-financing sector.
2.2. The Department of Agriculture Climate Change Program
Being the lead government agency in ensuring that the NCCAP’s listed outcomes on food security can be
achieved by 2028, the Department of Agriculture (DA) formulated specific programs and plans such as the
following:
“2.2.1. Climate Information System for Agriculture and Fisheries
It shall be established in different attached agencies to generate timely and reliable information to aid
in disaster risk reduction and management. Vulnerability and risk assessment mapping of productive
areas will be done wherein the map-based ex-ante analysis could be done before the onset of cropping
season. Aside from this, early warning systems will be established by improving meteorological
predictions in partnership with PAGASA. Improvement of agromet stations will be spread out not just
in regional/provincial level but also in major watershed, research centers, State Universities and
Colleges and other stations. Lastly, pest population surveys of the Bureau of Plant Industry will be
continued and a unit shall be established to develop predictive models to anticipate the resurgence of
pests.
This program has just finished its Climate Change Vulnerability Mapping under the National Irrigation
Authority (NIA) project and is currently undergoing project documentation for the release of funds.
2.2.2. Research and development for adaptive tools, technologies and practices
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