Farmers in Konya avoid insuring products as they see it as ‘sinful’

KONYA - Doğan News Agency

A top local official in the Central Anatolian province of Konya has said local farmers are not insuring their agricultural fields and products against droughts or natural disaster risks as they believe such acts are “not accepted by religion.” 

Rıfat Kavuneker, the head of Karatay Chamber of Agriculture, therefore, has called for the issuance of a “fatwa” by authorities to encourage locals to insure their products and fields.  

He said it is of great importance for farmers to insure their cultivated products to protect them against risks, mainly natural disasters. 

“We voiced this at our trainings during the last winter. We urged our farmers to insure their agricultural fields and products against risks,” Kavuneker. 

“Despite these warnings, the farmers did not even move a muscle,” he said. 

“They avoid insuring their agricultural fields or products. The biggest reason lying behind this is that they believe such moves are not acceptable in their religion. Fatwa authorities should do something here. They should say whether insurances are a sin or halal,” he added. 

According to Kavuneker, there are nearly 200,000 farmers in Konya, with only 15-20 percent of them insuring their yields. 

He also added that almost half of the costs of these insurances are met by the state and farmers are also offered an opportunity to make their policy payments in installments.