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

Since our April blog, more field reports and anecdotal evidence have emerged to gain a more holistic picture of the COVID-19 impact on smallholder farmers. The spillover effects of this health crisis are unprecedented, spreading across all sectors with major damages to food systems, transportation, trade and tourism as well as altering businesses and daily lives around the world through control measures. In our work, we also see farmers suffering economic impact from business shutdown, movement constraints and supply chain disruption. For example, inputs/animal feed are not available or become

GIIF: In order to provide an introduction to our readers, could you please share with us the main priority areas of the InsuResilience Global Partnership and the activities under its Working Groups? Dr. Zwick: Launched at the COP23 in November 2017, the InsuResilience Global Partnership has the vision, to strengthen the resilience of developing countries and to protect the lives and livelihoods of poor and vulnerable people from the impacts of disasters by promoting the adoption and use of climate and disaster risk finance and insurance (CDRFI) solutions and approaches towards faster, more

At the time of writing, disruptions on food production, agricultural supply chains and markets have not been materialized; however, the pandemic is directly affecting food systems through impact on food supply and demand, and indirectly through decreases in purchasing power as well as logistical barriers and trade blockages. Learning from past pandemic, for instance during the 2014 Ebola crisis, lockdowns in West Africa had several negative impacts on farmers’ livelihoods including curbing access to markets both for input purchase and produce sale as well as reducing the availability of

With the outbreak yet to be contained, the COVID-19 crisis is steadily amassing damages across various sectors such as health, transportation, trade, tourism, to name a few. While the impact/pressure to agriculture sector is less pronounced, disruption in the value chains has been observed in dynamics of food supply and demand in conjunction of reducing purchasing power, logistical barriers and trade blockages. With the start of typhoon, monsoon and hurricane season in different parts of the world as well as weather uncertainty in the upcoming crop seasons in arid and semi-arid regions

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