Although agricultural insurance was piloted by the government over 10 years ago, every time a natural disaster strikes, thousands of farmers are left with nothing, while insurance still seems like a foreign concept to them.
VietNamNet's series "Making Agricultural Insurance a Real Lifeline for Farmers" hopes to provide additional perspectives to help address this issue.
The aftermath of Storm Yagi has left farmers across Vietnam devastated, with many losing their entire livelihoods and facing crushing debt.
In the coastal area of Quang Yen, Quang Ninh province, fish farmer Bui Lanh Ba is among those hardest hits. His 300 fish cages were destroyed, leaving nothing but floating debris and a growing pile of debt.
Ba and his wife have been in the aquaculture business for over 20 years, starting in Cat Ba and eventually moving to Hoang Tan in Quang Ninh. Over the years, they steadily expanded their operations, reinvesting every bit of profit into their fish farm.
Before the storm hit, they had over 300 fish cages in the water, expecting a bountiful harvest. However, within hours of Storm Yagi's landfall, their entire farm was reduced to rubble.
"We had reinforced the cages, adding anchors and stakes to secure them, but it was no match for the storm's strength," Ba explained.
The storm destroyed over 200 cages that held 220 tons of fish, leaving only two tons of fish recoverable. Ba estimates his losses at over VND 50 billion, with an additional VND 5 billion lost to damage to their boats.
Ba had nearly paid off the VND 300 million loan he had taken from the bank, and the couple had been looking forward to making a profit from their next harvest. Now, with everything lost, Ba and his wife are unsure how to rebuild.
In the days after the storm, Ba and his friends have been scouring the area to retrieve any fish that escaped during the destruction. "Every fish we find is a small victory," Ba said. Friends have helped him salvage about 100 kilograms of fish, which he has placed in a hastily repaired cage.
Elsewhere in Vietnam, the story is the same. In Dong Anh district, Hanoi, farmer Hoang Ngoc Doan is reeling from the loss of over 70,000 chickens.
His farm, which spanned 2.6 hectares, was home to 80,000 chickens, but floodwaters swept through the area, leaving thousands of dead birds. With damages estimated at VND 15 billion, Doan faces an uncertain future. He had to sell the surviving 10,000 chickens at a steep discount, just to recoup some losses.
Storm Yagi caused widespread damage across Vietnam, destroying crops, livestock, and fish farms. By September 18, authorities estimated that 312,000 hectares of farmland had been flooded, with over 100,000 hectares completely lost.
Thousands of fish cages were destroyed, and millions of animals perished in the floodwaters. Total damages to agriculture and aquaculture have already exceeded VND 8,750 billion.
In Quang Ninh, farmer Ngo Thi Thuy lost 12 billion VND after her fish farm was destroyed. She and her family had invested in 105 fish cages, and now they are left with a debt of VND 4 billion and no means of recovery.
"We're just hoping the bank will allow us to delay our loan payments," Thuy said. "We need to borrow more money to restart, but it's hard to imagine how we'll get back on our feet."
As the agricultural sector faces increasing challenges due to climate change, many are calling for better access to insurance to help protect farmers from future disasters.
Although the government introduced a pilot agricultural insurance program over 10 years ago, it remains underutilized, with most farmers unaware or unable to access the scheme.
"The losses from storms like Yagi are catastrophic, and without insurance, farmers have no safety net," said Phung Duc Tien, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
"We need a comprehensive solution, including better access to insurance, so that farmers are not left with nothing after every disaster," he said.
The Ministry of Agriculture is now urging the government to issue a special resolution to address the needs of farmers affected by the storm, including offering debt relief and providing technical support to help rebuild farms. At the same time, they are pushing for expanded agricultural insurance programs to cover a wider range of crops, livestock, and aquaculture.
For now, farmers like Ba, Doan, and Thuy face an uphill battle to rebuild. With the storm's devastation still fresh, and the weight of their debts growing heavily, they must rely on whatever support they can find to start over.
As the government works to support recovery efforts, many farmers are left wondering how long it will take to get back on their feet. With each passing day, their debts grow larger, and the uncertainty of the future looms over them. For now, they can only hope that relief comes soon, and that their resilience will see them through another storm.
Tam An
Vietnamnet.vn
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