The 14th African Reinsurance Forum, held in mid-October in Tunis and tackling agricultural insurance in Africa, gathered 400 African and European reinsurers, underscoring the importance of African agriculture in a continent haunted by the food crisis. In Africa, the agricultural sector caters for 50% of the jobs and accounts for 70% of the livelihoods of the African population. This vital sector for the African continent which hopes to achieve food self sufficiency is hardly concerned by the insurance sector while remaining quite vulnerable to climate hazards and natural disasters.
Lack of insurance culture and the negative image associated with insurance are widespread among African farmers.
In Tunisia, a reform of the agricultural insurance was undertaken between 2000 and 2001. It was designed to adapt on-request insurance products to reasonable costs, to bring insurance services closer to the farmers and to ensure the massive adherence of farmers to the insurance scheme.