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The start-up plans to cover 5 million such farmers and their families by 2025.

Specialised agri value chain enabling start-up Samunnati on Saturday launched an insurance initiative Annadata Suraksha Abhiyaan (ASA) to cover farmers from daily farming risks.On the occasion of Daan Ustav, one of India’s biggest festivals of giving, celebrated every year from October 2 to 8, Samunnati launched the ASA campaign to cover over 50,000 smallholder farmers who are part of its FPOnEXT programme, an exclusive network working with farmer producer organisation. A press release from Samunnati said in the coming years, it plans to extend this insurance benefits to over two lakh farmers by amplifying the crowdsourcing campaign in partnership with other ecosystem players.

Through ASA, Samunnati’s vision is to insure Indian farmers from the vulnerabilities and risks associated with farming, as well as to drive more awareness and adoption of insurance among India’s agrarian communities. The insurance benefits will initially provide coverage up to Rs.50,000 to each farmer free of cost via FPOnEXT platform. It will cover over a dozen risks such as accidental deaths, permanent or partial disablement, accident and hospitalisation, fractures, burns, vector borne diseases and emergency ambulance charges. Child education and marriage expenses have also been included in the insurance.

Commenting on this initiative, Anilkumar SG, founder and CEO, Samunnati, said, “Insurance is considered a luxury by a large part of India’s farming communities. At Samunnati, we recognise this perception and with Annadata Suraksha Abhiyaan, we aim to free our nation’s Annadatas (farmers) from the risks that they encounter every day.”

“By inviting Indian citizens and corporates to contribute to this thoughtful initiative, we are determined to support and protect smallholder farmers, as well as their families. We look forward to partnering with other stakeholders in giving back to this community and making their lives risk-proof in the coming years,” he said.

Chennai-based Samunnati is present in over 100 agri value chains spread across 22 States.