OREANDA-NEWS. December 20, 2007. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will be working with Ukraine's Ministry of Agrarian Policy to reform the country's agricultural insurance industry, IFC's press service reported. IFC will engage state agencies to help develop a strategic plan, promote improvements in the regulatory environment, and establish structures for sector representatives.

Limited understanding of risk management in the farm sector hinders the development of the agri-insurance industry. This also affects farmers' ability to access finance and grow their operations. Other challenges include the technical capacity of insurance companies, a lack of actuarially sound insurance products, limited access to reinsurance. Farmers also have low confidence in insurance.

IFC will work with key regulatory, institutional, and commercial partners to improve the environment for agri-insurance, develop the capacity of insurance companies, and work directly with farmers in a pilot implementation program. The project will help build the technical and management capacity of insurance companies and help farmers implement new insurance products. The project will also engage in a public education campaign.

"The project.s cohesive approach will help increase awareness about agri-insurance and improve products and delivery, boosting the volume of insurance contracts," said Gary Reusche, IFC Project Manager.

This effort is part of the IFC Ukraine Agri-Insurance Development Project, which was launched in mid-2007 with support from the Canadian International Development Agency.