Agrobank is set to launch its agriculture-based Takaful program early next year, a spokesperson from the bank told ISFI. The fully Shariah compliant development financial institution is expected to disclose the details for the upcoming product in Q4 this year.
Touted to be the first in the market, ISFI previously reported that the to-be-launched Takaful program will target the agricultural community and provide basic protection against losses due to natural disasters.
“It’s also high time that the agricultural sector transitioned to sustainable agriculture [to help] address the immediate demands and availability of food while considering the long-term repercussion of our agricultural activities on our natural resources,” Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin, the president and CEO of Agrobank, said in a statement.
The timeline for the agricultural Takaful product launch follows a number of developments including an MoU between Agrobank and Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga (Takaful Malaysia) in December last year, which outlines a collaboration between the two entities to target agricultural communities through a bancaTakaful partnership.
During the signing of the agreement, the Agrobank president noted that the collaboration will see the development of at least two new Takaful products to meet the needs of businesses in the agricultural sectors including farmers and fishermen.
The scope of the partnership will enable Agrobank to expand the range of Takaful Malaysia products while giving the latter access to its customer base.
In an earlier development, the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries (MIFI) announced in February 2022 that it will launch the Agro-Food Takaful Insurance Scheme to strengthen food security.
The MIFI minister, Dr Ronald Kiandee, confirmed that Agrobank will take the lead for the Agro-Food Takaful Insurance Scheme.
Originally scheduled to be implemented in stages from Q2 2022 onward, paddy farmers are first in line to benefit from the governmental scheme with the crop, fishery and livestock sectors to follow.