What matters to farmers matters to Momentum Short Term Insurance
A short term insurer is taking the plight of farmers to heart, offering them to revert one month’s premium or an amount equal to one month’s premium during this month. This gesture is to support farmers’ cash flow which is severely constrained as a result of the drought.
Momentum Short Term Insurance’s Chief Executive, Johan Barnard made the commitment earlier this week while acknowledging the dire straits farmers are in.
“Momentum Short Term Insurance will repay the last month’s premium or an amount equal to one month’s premium to policyholders in December 2019. It is our contribution to our faithful clients to show that we know how difficult times are. This drought is continuing unabated and farmers need support to keep feeding animals or paying workers, school fees, fuel and ration bills. We hope this will help our farming clients in their struggle to stay afloat,“ Barnard said.
Sharing the farming community’s joy over the tentative start of the rain season, Momentum however pointed out that it realises that the effects of the drought are not over. Animals are dying daily on almost every farm in the country from the Kunene region in the north to the Karasburg district in the south.
“Commercial farmers are struggling to find a way forward and for many the time has come to re-calculate how they will be able survive until next season. In fact, the Hardap Irrigation Scheme farmers agreed that up to 40% of the arable land will not be cultivated until after the dam has received a significant inflow.”
Farm workers are forced to find alternative employment, money to purchase animal feed are running out and spending on luxuries have completely ceased. In many cases, farmers struggle to keep up with daily expenses, their cash flow is under pressure and budget cuts are unavoidable. Even after the expected rain season, it is merely the beginning of a long and hard struggle to get back on track.
“Farmers, by virtue of their business, keep the primary economy running and provide jobs to thousands of people in rural areas, typically under difficult circumstances,” stated Barnard.
The damage to the national livestock herd caused by mortality and the forced export of live animals has not been calculated yet nor has the impact of the large number of female production animals that had to be removed from the veld for survival.
“The business sector, especially financial institutions, contributes greatly to the survival of the farming sector, knowing that farmers’ role in food supply remains the engine of Namibia’s economy. Farmers are major employers and more often than not, new inventions and good, healthy businesses are born on farms. Supporting a farmer in his hour of need is always a good investment, because in turn, his business creates new opportunities,” according to Momentum.
“Momentum Short Term Insurance, a young leader in the short-term insurance industry, realizes the severity of the situation in which hundreds of working farms find themselves in. To ease the burden, Momentum Short Term Insurance announced that it will assist farmers with cash flow in December this year,” Barnard concluded.
