Insurer Unveils New Cover for the Golden Leaf

Source from:  Staff Reporter  06/18/2004

INSURANCE firm Standard Fire and General (SFG) has unveiled a new package for Zimbabwe's troubled tobacco industry, which has been on a steady decline in the last four years. Production of the golden leaf, the country's single largest foreign currency earner, has plummeted to its lowest levels in decades. Farmers blame the plunge on the unavailability of inputs and an unfavourable exchange rate. A senior SFG official told The Financial Gazette this week that the package covered yield loss as a result of hail, windstorm, fire, as well as the loss of tobacco revenue. Juliana Maisvoreva, SFG's agriculture and communications manager, said many farmers had found the insurance package attractive, adding that subscriptions were rising. "The response has been quite good. Farmers are still creeping in, but their numbers are actually increasing." Maisvoreva said SFG would effectively introduce the package to farmers in the coming season, which begins in August. The insurance package, she added, was meant to salvage farmers, with a view to restoring viability to the sector. Growers pays a deposit premium of 50 percent, after which a certificate of insurance is issued. The balance will then be deducted from crop sales. Enditem