All necessary measures have been taken to resume paying monthly pensions to farmers who previously lost their pension, starting this month, the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board has stated. 

The Board noted that it has taken steps to resume pension payments in response to requests made by farmers to the government regarding the issues they faced.

The process of collecting funds from farmers who contributed to the pension scheme was disrupted due to the temporary suspension of pension payments, which affected the Farmers’ Pension and Social Security Benefit Scheme during the 2012/2013 period.

As a result, farmers who had been contributing to the scheme were unable to pay their installments consistently.

Farmers who had paid at least 75% of their total installment amount lost their pension entitlement upon reaching the age of 60, due to failing to pay five installments on time over two consecutive seasons.

However, the Agricultural and Agrarian Insurance Board emphasized that the inability to pay these installments was not the fault of the farmers.

The Ministry of Agriculture has therefore announced that farmers who have paid more than 75% of their installments will now be eligible to receive a pension, calculated as a percentage of the total paid amount, after consideration of their requests.

The Insurance Board added that, following a review by the advisory committee and its recommendations to the Board of Directors, arrangements have been made to provide monthly pensions to eligible farmers starting this month.