Although the industry direct and indirect losses from COVID-19 have not been studied systematically, 2020 marked a difficult and transformative year for the insurance sector. As part of containment measures imposed by the governments to curb the spread of the virus, economies worldwide were forced into lockdown causing inevitable second-order effects of supply chain disruptions, business closure, loss in income and jobs leading to third-order effects of poverty and food insecurity intensifying in the vulnerable communities. In fact, using the latest dataset, the World Bank recently released an

The Partnership Forum is the annual meeting of the InsuResilience Global Partnership, bringing together all members and partners, from governments to representatives of international organizations, civil society, the private sector and academia. The Partnership Forum serves as platform to exchange experience and knowledge and to raise awareness about climate risk finance and insurance. As an active member in this Global Partnership, GIIF participated in this year’s forum together with its long-term implementation partner ACRE Africa. The event was held as a 4-day virtual event from 7-10

Agriculture Technologies (AgTechs) have demonstrated positive impact on improving the development of agriculture sector specially during the COVID-19 pandemic. By disrupting traditional supply chain, agtechs help to improve efficiency, reduce input cost, and increase farmers’ income by raising farm gate price, etc. Adopting and scaling up AgTechs can unleash the potential of the improvement in agriculture sector, which is of great significance to countries with high proportion of employment in this industry . India has 41.49% of its workforce employed in agriculture industry ( ILO 2020)

The climate of Madagascar favors a wide range of agricultural activity, including crop and livestock production, fishery and forestry. In addition, approximately 70 percent of the total land area is arable ( FAO 2016) and the agricultural sector makes a significant contribution to the economy: at least 23 percent of the country’s GDP and 64 percent of total employment can be attributed to the sector ( ILO 2020). Most agricultural production is driven by smallholder farmers, who make up about 70 percent of the farming population ( FAO 2019). However, due its geographical location and the

Since its inception in 2010, GIIF has been focusing on using innovation to protect excluded or underserved population in the rural areas particularly smallholder farmers through developing a sustainable insurance sector in the nascent market. The primary risk solutions are centered on index-based agriculture insurance to safeguard livelihoods of smallholder households against weather volatilities and climate shocks. GIIF Program has been focusing on two entry barriers: regulatory constraints and lack of institutional capacity of local/regional (re)insurance companies. GIIF’s implementing

While re-emerging from years of conflict and instability, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is still a fragile economy. Despite DRC’s abundant natural resources and a recent growth rate of 5.8 percent in 2018 (after a fifteen-year low at 2.4 percent in 2016) [1], economic and social development remain limited, with widespread poverty. Regarding the insurance industry, the sector has very low penetration compared to regional levels. In addition, certain categories of insurance products, such as agriculture insurance, are not yet available in the country. Although agriculture contributes 20

Women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to climate, financial and health risks due to environmental, political and social factors. As a result, the insurance industry has long seen women as a high-risk consumer segment and overlooked this market that has a significant potential for economic and social development. Based on lessons learned and progress achieved with implementation partners over the past 10 years, the GIIF program acknowledges that by empowering women with insurance protection, both economic growth and long-term shared prosperity are attainable and sustainable

An unprecedented desert locust outbreak destroying millions of hectares of crops and pastures is worsening food security and livelihoods of millions in East Africa, Middle East and Asia. In Kenya, it represents the most devastating outbreak the country has experienced in 70 years. Two neighboring countries Somalia and Ethiopia are facing the worst desert locust crisis in 25 years. Yemen in the nearby Arabian Peninsula is also threatened as 18 million Yemenis are already in acute food insecurity and depend on international humanitarian aid. Damages in crops are also reported in India and

In May 2020, the World Bank Grroup (WBG) approved a $150 million IDA credit to support Senegal in boosting agricultural productivity and helping build resilient, climate-smart, and competitive food systems while improving the livelihoods of farmers and herders in the extended groundnut basin and agro-pastoral areas. In the country, the WBG’s Agriculture and Livestock Competitiveness Program for Results aims to increase exports of high-value crops such as shelled groundnuts and horticultural products as well as dairy farming productivity and reduce the mortality rate of small ruminants. The

To understand the impact of COVID-19 on agriculture insurance operations, GIIF conducted a survey with 11 of its implementing partners in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Due to the pandemic, the general feedback on policy renewal and new business generation for the agriculture business line offers a concerning outlook. Many expect a decrease in farmer enrollment due to diminishing disposable income and travel restrictions affecting field visits and in-person product awareness workshops. Likewise, limited mobility for project monitoring teams, crop cut specialists and aggregators as well as delays