A new insurance programme designed to protect banana and plantain farmers against extreme weather events has been officially launched in Saint Lucia.
It will utilise satellite data, government-backed premiums and a phased approach.
Launched on July 18 under the Regional Economic Agri-Insurance Programme (REAP), the scheme is the first of its kind in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
But how exactly will it function? Here’s how payouts, enrollment and risk transfer will work, and why neighbouring countries are already watching closely.
How will payouts be disbursed?
The Saint Lucian government has committed EC$1 million to cover the initial premiums, meaning farmers won’t pay out of pocket, for now. But there’s a catch: payouts won’t go directly to farmers at first. Instead, when hurricanes or tropical storms damage crops, satellite imagery will trigger a payout, if warranted, to the government, which then distributes funds to affected growers.
Unlike traditional insurance, which relies on field assessments, REAP uses satellite monitoring. If weather data meets predefined thresholds, the policy will be activated.
Damian Bowen of Lynch Insurance Brokers, the scheme’s administrator, says the goal is to eventually transfer risk fully to the private sector, with the farmers absorbing the cost themselves if the model works.
“We’re going to start capacity-building and certain developmental efforts to sensitise farmers to the importance of embedding agri-insurance within their business models,” he said.
Who will be included in the programme?
According to Bowen, the process for enrolling farmers has not yet been finalised. Two options are under consideration. One involves a pre-enrollment and certification process, where farmers can be enrolled either through a government-led initiative using the Ministry of Agriculture’s list of 1,068 banana and plantain farmers, or through a self-registration web portal.
The second option is a post-event model, where farmers would be allowed to join the programme after a disaster, either via government facilitation or directly through digital tools.
“So together with the permanent secretary [in the agriculture ministry], we’ll reflect now that we’ve entered the policy cycle stage, on which approach the government deems best – and we will follow their leadership,” Bowen said.
Saint Lucia is the first country in the region to implement the REAP-backed insurance scheme. However, Bowen noted growing interest from other nations including Dominica, St Kitts, Antigua, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados and The Bahamas.
