Agricultural insurance – a solid "shield" for Cooperatives

“Group makes rich” – insurance is a tool for sharing community risks

At the Workshop, Ms. Cao Xuan Thu Van, President of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, gave her opening speech by quoting Uncle Ho in 1946: "Grouping together makes us rich, dividing up makes us poor" to emphasize that insurance is a concrete expression of the spirit of "grouping together" in agricultural production - where everyone shares risks for stability and long-term development.

Mr. Pham Duc An - Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee spoke at the Workshop

“We cannot sit and wait for policies from above. To have policies, we must first have practical models to demonstrate. Let’s start with qualified cooperative models, coordinate with insurance companies to pilot, and from there create a basis for building official policies,” said Ms. Van.

Citing an example from Japan – a country with the most developed cooperative system in the world , Ms. Van said that only cooperatives that comply with the correct output, production process and standards are eligible for insurance. Applying strict conditions helps ensure sustainability, responsibility and transparency in production – a prerequisite for the insurance policy to be effective.

“Insurance is not for those who “see others eating potatoes and go digging for them”. Production must be stable and disciplined in order to effectively implement insurance,” Ms. Van frankly pointed out.

Mr. Do Minh Hoang - Member of the Board of Directors of Agribank Insurance shared at the Workshop

Agribank Insurance proposes comprehensive insurance model for Quang Ninh cooperatives

At the workshop, the leader of Agribank Insurance - representative of non-life insurance company presented a paper with 4 main parts including international lessons, domestic practices and especially proposed a comprehensive insurance program specifically for cooperatives in Quang Ninh.

Agribank Insurance has summarized lessons from countries with developed agriculture such as China, Thailand, and the Philippines. The common points of successful agricultural insurance models are that the Government plays a leading role in issuing legal frameworks, subsidizing insurance premiums, and supervising implementation; Insurance is integrated into the overall agricultural development strategy, linked to value chains and concentrated production areas. Technology is applied in management, loss assessment, and compensation payments to ensure transparency and speed.

In Vietnam, agricultural insurance has been piloted (Decision 315) and expanded (Decree 58), but the results have been limited because the insurance products are not close to reality, the support policies are not attractive enough and the procedures are still cumbersome. However, Agribank Insurance is still one of the pioneers in developing insurance products for the "Tam Nong" area, with a revenue of more than 2,000 billion VND/year, protecting more than 3 million farming households.

According to Mr. Do Minh Hoang - Member of the Board of Directors of Agribank Insurance, cooperatives need to be placed in a production chain with the close participation of banks, insurance companies, input and output suppliers and the entire state management system. In which, insurance becomes an indispensable "link", comprehensively protecting: crops, livestock, assets, health and income of cooperative members.

With the desire to accompany the government and people of Quang Ninh province in economic development, Agribank Insurance proposes an insurance program for agricultural production cooperatives in the province with 5 specific groups of solutions to implement agricultural insurance for cooperatives in Quang Ninh: Building a value chain in agriculture, in which cooperatives are the core, insurance companies are a component; Building a comprehensive insurance program, not only protecting crops and livestock but also assets and people - the fundamental factors of agricultural production; Coordinating the sharing of insurance premiums between the State budget, banks, insurance companies and cooperatives - to reduce financial burdens for people; Taking advantage of the role of commercial banks such as Agribank, combining credit and insurance to minimize credit risks in agriculture; Establishing a local risk reserve fund, used to support losses exceeding the payment capacity of insurance companies.

These recommendations aim to build a comprehensive agricultural insurance ecosystem, contributing to realizing the vision of green and sustainable agricultural development.

From pilot to policy requires sustainable companionship

Agricultural insurance is no longer a distant concept, but has become an essential need in risk management and modern agricultural development.

As of April 2025, Quang Ninh province had 1,087 cooperatives, of which 768 were agricultural cooperatives (accounting for more than 70%), creating jobs for nearly 75,000 workers (accounting for 10.9% of the province's workforce), demonstrating the right direction in developing a cooperative economy.

However, according to Mr. Pham Duc An - Chairman of Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee, the recent severe consequences of storm No. 3 - Yagi in 2024 have clearly exposed loopholes in risk management at cooperatives.

“Most of the cooperatives that suffered losses did not receive the necessary support due to a lack of consistency in management, supply of materials, production organization and application of technical standards. We need to seriously consider this to have more substantial steps,” Mr. An stated.

The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also emphasized the urgency of developing a separate insurance policy for cooperatives, and requested the Provincial Cooperative Union to proactively coordinate with departments, branches, and insurance companies such as Agribank Insurance to design products suitable for the characteristics of each industry. In the immediate future, priority should be given to areas with strengths such as aquaculture, livestock, and forestry.

In Quang Ninh, where cooperatives are developing strongly, insurance needs to be implemented in parallel with production and credit processes to form a smart and sustainable agricultural ecosystem. “We need a practical model with data, real people, real work to convince the central government to issue an official mechanism,” Ms. Van concluded passionately.

And for insurance to not just be a piece of paper, but become a solid "shield" to protect livelihoods, a prerequisite is needed - self-awareness and real commitment from cooperatives and farmers themselves.

The workshop reached a high consensus on the need to soon pilot the agricultural insurance model in Quang Ninh, before expanding and proposing national policies. With a developed cooperative infrastructure, the support of businesses such as Agribank Insurance and strong direction from local authorities, Quang Ninh can completely become a leading model in the country in implementing agricultural insurance in cooperatives.

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/bao-hiem-nong-nghiep-tam-khien-vung-chac-cho-hop-tac-xa-162626.html