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SEARCA convenes policy roundtable on improving agricultural insurance to enhance climate change resilience in Southeast Asia

Published on 29 July 2015 KC3 News

The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), and the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) in cooperation with the Food Security Center (FSC) of the University of Hohenheim, jointly organize the Policy Roundtable on Improving the Agricultural Insurance Program to Enhance Resilience to Climate Change in Southeast Asia. The Policy Roundtable takes place in Ascott Makati City, Philippines on 29-30 July 2015.

SEARCA and its partners recognize the importance of agricultural insurance as one of the risk management strategies in coping with the impacts of climate change and climate variability in the Southeast Asian region. It is against this backdrop that the Policy Roundtable is being organized.

The primary objectives of this Policy Roundtable are to promote and cooperate in the practice of agricultural insurance in Southeast Asia, and to understand agricultural insurance and its role in enhancing resilience to climate change and ensuring food security. Specifically the roundtable aims to share knowledge and experiences on various facets of agricultural insurance in Southeast Asia; identify key issues and challenges related to agricultural insurance; explore possible partnerships between and among governments, development organizations, and other stakeholders in research, knowledge management, capacity building, and other activities towards an improved agricultural insurance program; and identify policy directions and recommendations for an enabling environment towards an improved agricultural insurance program.

Participants come from national government agencies in Southeast Asia, research and development institutions, and relevant financial institutions involved in agricultural insurance policy formulation and implementation.

The Policy Roundtable features presentations on a background paper, three keynote papers, results of the SEARCA-PhilRice study on rice and corn insurance program in the Philippines, and country papers. It also includes workshop/breakout session to identify the way forward in improving the insurance program to enhance resilience to climate change.

The Honorable Cynthia A. Villar, Senator and Chairperson, Committee on Agriculture and Food of the Philippine Senate and the representative of the LandBank of the Philippines President will deliver the opening messages, while Dr. Segfredo R. Serrano, Undersecretary of the Philippine Department of Agriculture and Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit, Jr., SEARCA Director, will give their welcome remarks. Dr. Jose M. Yorobe, Jr., Professor of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, College of Economics and Management (CEM), UPLB is SEARCA’s Technical Coordinator of the Policy Roundtable. (Bessie M. Burgos)