Indonesia gets new weather insurance

On 27 and 28 March in Tulungagung, East Java, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA) launched another of its Weather Index Insurance (WII) projects in Dana Pandan. The name of this program means "Safe and Sustainable Farming Fund". This is our first WII launch in the province of East Java. The first was in Indramayu, West Java, in the 2017 wet season.

Dana Pandan is a collaboration between SFSA, ACA Asuransi (ACA) and CU Rahayu (CUR). ACA is the insurance partner of SFSA, providing the WII. CUR, in cooperation with a local retailer, provides farmers with cash loans and input loans. Participants can sell their harvest to CUR at above-market prices. 

SFSA developed the WII product, organized the collaboration and delivered agricultural extension. The extension advice focuses on integrated pest monitoring and good farming practices.

"The WII protects smallholders against insufficient rainfall", explains Mori Prananto from our Indonesian team.  "Assessment is based on satellite data. Tulungagung has a limited irrigation network, so farmers depend on rain. That makes this kind of WII a well-matched solution to safeguard smallholders' investment in their crops."

For the March 27 launch, SFSA organized a demo plot Farm Day in the village of Kacangan. "We introduced the Dana Pandan concept and let farmers see the results of the previous season's demo", says Mori. Local smallholders, agriculture ministry officers, government officials, and the cooperative office attended. "We marked the event with harvest-ready paddy cutting", Mori reports. "and then held a ceremony for the first farmers to register."  

On March 28, a similar event took place in the village of Panjerejo. 

The program aims to create professional farmers and increase their productivity.