An independent Senator has recommended the establishment of a crop and livestock insurance programme to help farmers as they face the threats of praedial larceny and climate change.Speaking during debate in the Upper House on the Protection of Agricultural Products Bill, 2022, which seeks to put an end to praedial larceny, Senator Dr Chelston Brathwaite stressed that this type of theft was not an agricultural problem but a societal problem.He insisted that the legislation was needed but suggested more could be done for farmers.“I . . . hope that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Security will investigate the possibility of providing a crop and livestock insurance programme to protect farmers against praedial larceny and other risks, especially the risks associated with climate change,” said Dr Brathwaite, a former Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).
