Tehran – The Agricultural Insurance Fund of Iran has called for strengthening international cooperation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), emphasizing the strategic role of agricultural insurance in safeguarding farmers’ livelihoods and building resilience against natural disasters.

 

In a recent meeting with the FAO Representative in Tehran, Behzad Babakhani, Deputy CEO of the Fund, highlighted Iran’s status as one of the world’s ten most disaster-prone countries and underlined the importance of risk management in the agricultural sector.

 

He showcased successful national initiatives, including comprehensive insurance coverage for the poultry production chain and new mandates under Iran’s Seventh Development Plan to extend insurance to wheat and oilseeds.

 

At the same time, the Iranian official pointed to low penetration rates in livestock, aquaculture, and orchards, calling for targeted solutions to close these gaps.

 

To this end, he proposed a package of collaborative measures with FAO, including: joint knowledge-sharing and training programs, development of standardized loss assessment protocols, integrated information systems, promotion of micro-insurance schemes and pilot projects, risk reduction initiatives and systematic documentation of results, and the establishment of an Asia–Africa Agricultural Insurance Federation with Iran in a central role.

 

The meeting concluded with an agreement to set up a joint working group, while the FAO Representative expressed interest in reviewing Iran’s national agricultural insurance platform.