Pacifica, Crédit Agricole Assurances’ property/causality insurance arm, has signed an exclusive three-year partnership agreement with Fédération Française de la Coopération Fruitière, Légumière et Horticole (FELCOOP), a farmers’ cooperative federation, to help FELCOOP-affiliated fruit and vegetable growers to take out crop insurance.
The gradual winding-up of the national compensation fund for agricultural disasters (FNGCA)[1], coupled with the increase in climate-related hazards, has prompted public authorities in France to develop and promote crop insurance by paying a portion of farmers’ premiums on their behalf.
Crop insurance is an ideal form of protection in a sector marked by substantial fluctuations in prices and production volumes. Additionally, economic, health and climate hazards have increased in recent years which farmers need to take into consideration. Crop insurance guarantees the farmer’s output and limits losses caused by contingencies insured on the basis of average yields, minus a chosen deductible.
To anticipate this new environment, Pacifica and FELCOOP have pooled their skills to enable producers to obtain insurance coverage more easily. With the involvement of FELCOOP member-cooperatives, the partnership seeks to:
- encourage fruit and vegetable growers to take out a crop insurance policy distributed through participating Crédit Agricole Regional Banks, with simplified formalities and negotiated prices
- simplify policy update procedures, both for growers and for Regional Banks.
The partnership is part of a broader-based cooperation initiative to design and produce tools for protecting farm incomes.
