The combination of severe production shortfall, extreme weather conditions and export controls heightens threats of a global food crisis. By any measure, this is not an easy problem to tackle, especially since there are too many unknowns at play.
Roman Hohl, head of agriculture for reinsurer Swiss Re’s Asia Pacific business, believes that agriculture risk transfer products can play a useful role in managing volatility in agricultural production. He was speaking at a recent seminar organised by Singapore Management University’s International Trading Institute (ITI@SMU) Hohl, who holds a doctorate in atmospheric science from Switzerland’s University of Fribourg, has extensive experience in the reinsurance industry. He helped create new risk transfer products for the agricultural sector at Swiss Re, involving insurers, governments and corporations such as food processors, banks and logistics companies.