Rwanda trains veterinarians to improve livestock insurance claims

RWANDA – Rwanda is rolling out specialised veterinary training to improve livestock insurance investigations and speed up compensation payouts, following years of disputes and delays that have weakened farmers’ confidence in the country’s agricultural insurance scheme.

The initiative, led by the Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB) in partnership with Dedicated Agri Services (DAS), aims to strengthen postmortem investigations into the deaths of insured livestock. 

Under existing rules, farmers must notify insurers within two hours of an animal’s death, while veterinarians are expected to complete examinations within four hours so insurers can process compensation claims within 30 days.

However, weak investigations, incomplete reports, and delayed notifications have frequently slowed compensation and triggered disputes among farmers, veterinarians, and insurers.

“Sometimes reports explaining the cause of death contradicted the disease identified by veterinarians because of limited practical skills,” said Lambert Niyonshuti, Operations Manager at DAS.

“That confusion affected both insurers and farmers. The veterinarians are now returning to the field with stronger practical knowledge.”

The training programme has so far brought together 98 veterinary practitioners and para-veterinarians from across Rwanda. 

Officials said many participants had not received practical refresher training in livestock loss assessment and postmortem investigations for nearly four years.

Joint review team established to handle disputes

The reforms target weaknesses in Rwanda’s government-backed agricultural insurance programme, “Tekana Urishingiwe Muhinzi Mworozi,” which covers livestock and crops against losses caused by disease, accidents and natural disasters.

To restore confidence in the system, RAB and the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources have established a joint review team to address disputes arising from rejected insurance claims and contested postmortem findings.

The mechanism will review complaints from farmers dissatisfied with veterinary reports, from insurers challenging findings, and from cases where reporting errors may have contributed to denied compensation.

Veterinarians say the training addresses practical challenges commonly encountered during field investigations.

“I handled a case where several chickens died suddenly, but I could not clearly identify the disease at first,” said Bonaventure Vumilia, a veterinarian in Kayonza District.

“Instead of submitting an incomplete report, I consulted colleagues. That showed me how much practical training we needed.”

Dr Fabrice Ndayisenga, Head of Animal Resources Development and Disease Control at RAB, said the programme is intended to strengthen the scientific credibility of livestock insurance assessments.

“Determining the cause of animal death requires specialised scientific knowledge,” he said. 

“We are training veterinarians so that reports are based on science and proper assessment methods. Weak reporting should not become a reason for farmers to miss compensation.”

According to the Council of Veterinarians, Rwanda had about 5,000 registered veterinary practitioners in 2023, significantly below the estimated 13,000 needed to support the country’s growing livestock sector.

RAB said the training programme will be expanded nationwide in phases as Rwanda seeks to reduce insurance disputes, strengthen veterinary services and encourage more farmers to insure their livestock.

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