iFarm platform offers value-added services to empower local farmers

Monday, 27 January 2020 01:18 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

SANASA General Insurance Company Ltd, together with Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, recently launched iFarm, a simple and secure online insurance platform to support the local farming community.

The platform gives local farmers access to a host of insurance products offered by SANASA General Insurance under two main categories - weather index-based policies and indemnity policies. Apart from simplifying insurance purchasing and claims processing, users can also benefit from a host of free value-added services built into the web- and mobile-based iFarm platform.

News portal - will contain information on farming best practices, insights and tips on regional farming, crop care, information on blights and diseases, in addition to a host of other agriculture-related topics.

Predictive weather - app users will have access to regularly updated, real-time predictive weather reports so that they can make decisions and anticipate drastic weather changes ahead of time, ultimately leading to reducing losses.

Market prices - will list the prices of all agricultural products from different wholesale markets throughout the country. This information is expected to help farmers keep track of market prices in an easy and convenient manner.

Marketplace – farmers who use the app can connect with buyers directly via the iFarm platform. This is especially expected to help during periods when farmers have excess stock of specific crops. It also helps non-frequent bulk buyers to directly connect with farmers, instead of having to follow a supply chain.

Soil consultation – farmers can request for consultations on soil and fertiliser requirements prior to planting crops in their fields and plantations, in order to maximise output. The consultations will be carried out by professionals who have partnered iFarm.

GIZ SME Sector Development Senior Fin-Tech Advisor Sajith Chanuka, speaking about the app, said: “The main goal of creating the IFarm platform was to use technology to help farmers to improve their decision-making, reduce risk, efficiently manage farms and bring financial stability to farmers, especially in the face of the adverse conditions caused by climate change. We believe that by providing them access to a host of services, such as predictive weather, soil conditions, fertiliser requirements and market situations, we enable sustainable farming practices, which directly correlates to increased agricultural productivity.”

Farmers are invited to download the application from the Google Play Store and take advantage of the free services.