Agricultural Insurance, The Untapped Solution to Zimbabwe’s Food Security Crisis

By Shingirai Vambe

As the 2025/2026 farming season approaches, Zimbabwe’s agricultural heartland remains haunted by memories of loss, withered maize fields, empty dams, and livestock carcasses strewn across parched land. The past season’s droughts and flash floods left thousands of farmers across the country reeling, their hopes washed away by climate extremes that have become all too familiar.

Once a breadbasket of southern Africa, Zimbabwe now finds itself in a race against time to shield its farmers, and by extension, its food security, from the escalating impacts of climate change. Agricultural insurance, long viewed as a luxury for large-scale producers, is fast emerging as a potential lifeline. Yet, for many smallholder farmers, understanding, affording, and accessing such protection remains a daunting challenge.

In the face of erratic rainfall, late planting, and recurring pest outbreaks, Zimbabwe’s farmers are increasingly vulnerable. Last season, entire herds were lost to drought in Matabeleland, while fields in Muzarabani and Chipinge were submerged under sudden floods. Traditional coping mechanisms, such as communal grain banks or informal savings groups, are proving inadequate in the face of worsening climate patterns.

Experts argue that agricultural insurance could cushion farmers from the worst of these shocks by transferring the financial burden of losses to insurers. Two main models are gaining traction, Indemnity Insurance, which compensates farmers for actual losses, and Parametric (Index-Based) Insurance, which pays out when certain weather or yield parameters are triggered, such as rainfall falling below a specific threshold.

“Insurance provides predictability in an unpredictable world,” says Insurance and Pensions Commission (IPEC), Commissioner, Grace Muradzikwa. “It allows a farmer to recover quickly, replant, and keep the business alive even after a disaster.”

Despite the promise, awareness of agricultural insurance remains low among smallholder farmers, the backbone of Zimbabwe’s food production. Many rural farmers can easily describe the terms of funeral or motor insurance, but few understand how crop or livestock insurance works.

The Insurance and Pensions Commission, together with the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Agriculture, has launched awareness campaigns, including roadshows and community outreach programmes, to bridge this knowledge gap. The goal is to make farmers see insurance not as an optional add-on but as an essential input, just like seed, fertilizer, or irrigation.

AFC Insurance, a subsidiary of the Agricultural Finance Corporation, has been leading from the front. Working with the Ministry of Lands and the Insurance Council, the company has rolled out awareness drives in multiple provinces and piloted parametric insurance models in over 10 districts. These models are designed to offer fast, data-driven payouts to farmers affected by droughts, floods, or pest infestations.

Affordability remains one of the biggest barriers to widespread adoption. Premiums are often too high for small-scale farmers who already struggle with input costs and unstable markets. To address this, experts are advocating flexible and innovative payment systems, to allowing installment payments to ease the upfront burden.

AFC Managing Director, Cuthbert Masukume told the Post On Sunday that there are looking at better and cheaper models of covering every farmer.

“We look forward to introduce group insurance schemes, where cooperatives or associations pool risks to negotiate better rates, accepting grain as payment, enabling farmers to use post-harvest income to renew policies and offering restricted but targeted cover for major risks like drought or flood, rather than comprehensive, and expensive, packages.”

“Such models, if implemented properly, could make insurance more accessible while strengthening farmers’ financial resilience,” added Masukume.

As Zimbabwe’s climate realities grow harsher, there’s growing recognition that the insurance sector must design products that match local conditions. Weather Index Insurance and Area Yield Index Insurance are among the most promising solutions, compensating farmers based on measurable indicators such as rainfall, soil moisture, or average yield levels.

However, late planting, often due to delayed rains, remains a grey area not typically covered by insurance. Industry experts believe this underscores the need for tailor-made policies that reflect Zimbabwe’s unique farming cycles, soil conditions, and risk exposure.

“A one-size-fits-all approach cannot work for a country like ours,” explains Masukume. “A communal farmer in Chivi faces very different risks from a tobacco grower in Mashonaland Central. Insurance products must reflect that diversity.”

New technologies are reshaping how agricultural insurance is designed and managed. Insurers are increasingly relying on satellite imagery, weather data, and mobile platforms to collect real-time information and trigger payouts. This approach not only reduces administrative costs but also helps ensure transparency and trust, key issues that have historically deterred farmers.

In Goromonzi, for instance, mobile-based payouts under the Farmer’s Basket Initiative proved transformative. The pilot, backed by IPEC and development partners, provided quick compensation to farmers affected by erratic rainfall. The project has since expanded to eight rural provinces, illustrating the potential of tech-driven, inclusive insurance models.

Building trust remains crucial. In the past, some farmers have paid premiums but struggled to receive payouts after disasters. To prevent such cases, IPEC is finalizing Agricultural Index Insurance Regulations that will require insurers to use objective, verifiable data when designing index products, enforce strict claims timelines, and enhance consumer education.

Moreover, government-led programmes such as Pfumvudza/Intwasa and the Presidential Input Scheme could integrate insurance as a compulsory safeguard. This would ensure that the billions of dollars invested annually in inputs are not lost to climate shocks.

Experience from projects like Goromonzi shows that no single actor can close the insurance gap alone. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) are emerging as the most effective route, pooling resources from government, insurers, reinsurers, and development partners. Such collaboration could help scale insurance uptake nationwide ahead of the 2025/2026 cropping season.

Analysts argue that the government should consider subsidizing premiums for smallholder farmers to boost participation. In the current Farmer’s Basket rollout, out of 20,000 smallholders registered, fewer than 1,000 paid their premiums for the 2024/2025 season, a reminder that exposes how affordability still limits progress.

Ultimately, agricultural insurance is not just a financial product, it is a cornerstone of national resilience. As droughts grow longer and storms more violent, insurance must be mainstreamed into Zimbabwe’s broader food security and climate adaptation strategies.

“Insurance should stand alongside irrigation development, input support, and market access as a pillar of agricultural sustainability,” said Muradzikwa. “Without it, every drought or flood resets progress and deepens poverty.”

For farmers like those in Gokwe, Tsholotsho, and Buhera, the stakes could not be higher. The next season’s rains will test not only their resilience but also the country’s ability to protect its producers from the mounting costs of climate change.

And as the world looks for climate-smart solutions, Zimbabwe’s agricultural insurance journey could become a model for how innovation, collaboration, and trust can turn vulnerability into strength.