For piggery farmers in Damzhagsa, the African Swine Fever outbreak did more than wipe out their animals, it also wiped out a major source of income while leaving many of them with loans to pay and no clear way to recover – putting insurance in the spotlight.
About 22 farmers in the chiwog under Norbugang Gewog in Samtse lost around 211 pigs to the outbreak. Entire pigsties were emptied, leaving affected households in severe financial distress.
The losses have renewed calls for livestock insurance and changes to the current compensation system, which farmers say does not cover most of the damage caused by outbreaks like this.
Norbugang is one of Samtse’s major livestock-producing gewogs, where many households depend on dairy, poultry, and piggery farming. Farmers said piggery had already become less profitable in recent years because of weaker demand. The ASF outbreak added another blow.
To stop the virus from spreading further, law enforcement agencies culled remaining pigs as part of containment measures. Officials said the move was needed for disease control and biosecurity. But for farmers, it meant losing whatever livestock they had left.
The main concern now is compensation. Under the current system, only pigs culled as a preventive measure before infection spreads within a sty are eligible for compensation. Pigs that die after infection has spread, or are culled later in the outbreak, are not covered.
Affected households said this leaves most of them without support, even when the losses came from the same outbreak.
They also pointed out that while government programs have encouraged livestock farming through credit schemes, farm inputs, and infrastructure support, those measures offer little protection when disease outbreaks wipe out animals.
Many who used bank loans, land sales, or leased land arrangements to build their farms are now left with debt and no income source.
The outbreak is also making some reconsider whether continuing piggery farming is still financially viable. Without such protections, rural communities remain fully exposed to the financial impact of future outbreaks.
Source - https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com
