“I did not believe in crop insurance before, but now it is a reality for me”! It is with great enthusiasm that 38-year old maize farmer Bessekourou Issiaka from Northern Benin received the first payout on his weather insurance policy. Because of the lack of rain this season, some of his maize fields generated less than half of their usual yield, or 800 kg/ha instead of the usual 2000 kg/ha. He is therefore quite relieved to receive  FCFA 90,000, about 180 dollar  insurance payout which will help him repay the loan he took to purchase inputs for the maize production. Bessekourou Issiaka is one of the 290 farmers who have received payouts this year, as part of the GIIF-supported drought index insurance pilot project that has been implemented by the agriculture mutual insurance company of Benin (AMAB) in Northern Benin since June 2013. This index insurance pilot covers farmers against rainfall deficit in order to achieve two complementary objectives: (i) protecting farmers against drought and (ii) protecting financial institutions against the risk of default of their borrowers. Indeed, two local microfinance institutions - Sian Son and FECECAM - have partnered in this project. The agricultural  insurance company AMAB hopes that these payouts will help build  trust among farmers and raise awareness about the benefits of insurance, so that this project can scale-up in future years.