Sri Lanka

29
Apr
The AAIB, Sri Lanka’s national agricultural insurer, partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to modernize agricultural insurance provision in the country. Kasundari, the Team Lead for the project, joined us to share their experience in digitizing agricultural information as part of this project. Background Imagine having to walk through a paddy tract consisting of hundreds of small fields in a rural area, sometimes without proper roads, seeking to identify a particular paddy of land. The mission is to verify an insurance claim in that field. For insurers offering traditional
Asia Regional Index Insurance Training in Colombo
With each passing year, the risks of unabated climate change are mounting. Climate change will not only make it more difficult to feed the projected 10 billion people by 2050, but its impact is already being felt in the form of reduced yields and more frequent extreme weather events that affect crops and livestock. Providing risk mitigation solutions such as agriculture insurance for the farming community to be able to face the impacts of natural disasters is, therefore, significant. More than 30 participants from eleven countries from across Africa, Asia and Europe gathered in Colombo, Sri
Participants from the public and private sectors in Sri Lanka and other Asian nations will spend a week in Colombo to learn about the topic of agriculture and index insurance. This workshop is enhanced by the participation of critical players in the local market together with GIIF/IFC partners from Asia and Africa, who bring diverse experience to the discussion. For more information, please contact: sgunasekera@ifc.org
Risk Diversification and Up-Scaling Potential - Sri Lanka
The development of sustainable insurance solutions requires a thorough risk assessment, modeling and layering. Agricultural and climate risks are mainly of a systemic nature, i.e. they affect a large geographic area or large parts of the population simultaneously. If the insured risk is not adequately spread, one catastrophic event can threaten the viability of the whole scheme. To lower covariate risks, the portfolio thus needs to be diversified in terms of crops, type of risks, and different geographical regions.
Index-based Crop Insurance Project
The core objective of the project is to minimize Sri Lankan farmers’ risk of an income loss due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Index-Based Climate Insurance Seen Feasible for Sri Lankan Farmers
In a study, a research economist at the Institute of Policy Studies finds that index insurance could be a feasible option for Sri Lankan farmers if they had greater education and awareness that overcomes existing lack of trust, EconomyNext reports . It is not uncommon that fa rmers have become skeptical about insurance after they heard about other bad experiences other farmers had with indemnity insurance. The lack of trust, as the farmers are unsure whether they will get benefits when disaster strikes, hinders the development and wider implementation of index insurance.
Promoting Innovation in Agricultural Insurance in South Asia
In November 2016, the World Bank Group’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), in collaboration with the International Labor Organization and Munich Re Foundation, organized a conference workshop entitled “Building Sustainable Agriculture Programs” in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Delivered as part of the 12th Annual Micro Insurance Conference, the daylong technical workshop brought together more than 50 participants from the public and private sector, donors, and development partners. Amena Arif, IFC country manager for Sri Lanka and the Maldives, and Rolande Simone Pryce, advisor from the World Bank
The landscape of microinsurance in Sri Lanka 2016
Munich Re Foundation and Microinsurance Network have released a report on t he Landscape of Microinsurance in The landscape of microinsurance in Sri Lanka . " Microinsurance in Sri Lanka initially started as a service to support the microfinance sector, focusing on providing loan protection, insurance and life savings. The insurance business extended their services to provide welfare and health products to low-income people. With almost 24% of the population living on less than USD 2 a day (World Bank Statistics, 2015), it was found that health is the largest risk faced by poor households
GIIF Country Profile: Sri Lanka
A newly designed Global Index Insurance Facility's Country Profile for Sri Lanka is available for digital viewing . The document contains an overview of GIIF's project in Sri Lanka and partner, Sanasa Insurance Company Ltd. (SICL).
17
Aug
Having many Sri Lankan friends in my home country of Australia, I have always wanted to visit Sri Lanka. The image of beautiful green tea plantations comes to mind, and perhaps rightfully so. This May, I had the opportunity to visit and understand more about their Index Insurance market through the Index Insurance Forum – a community of practitioners working towards market development and scalability in Index Insurance. The visit was part of a peer exchange with SANASA, an insurance company in Sri Lanka and a partner of the World Bank Group’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF). The