Representatives of agricultural financing agencies in Africa are expected in Kigali, Rwanda, next month to come up with solutions to farmers’ financing challenges, KT Press of Rwanda reports. At the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association-AFRACA conference on best practices in rural agriculture finance, experts will discuss “fast-tracking replicability of functional models in rural and agricultural Finance.” The conference will also discuss weather index insurance, which was recently introduced in Rwanda, the report adds. Headquartered in Nairobi, AFRACA is a regional association of

In June 2016, over 60 participants gathered at the College of insurance in Nairobi to discuss best practices and share their knowledge and expertise on index insurance, particularly livestock insurance and agriculture insurance. The discussions were quite timely, as the Government of Kenya recently allocated US$6 million for crop and livestock insurance for smallholder producers for next year, as one of the ‘key government flagship projects to drive the transformative agenda’. This is a five-fold increase in budget from the previous years with strong allocations toward data systems and premium

Plans are underway to draw up an insurance strategy on agriculture in Tanzania, AllAfrica reports. According to the country's Commissioner of Insurance, a meeting of insurance stakeholders was recently conducted to discuss the strategy. It is hoped that by having the strategy, agriculture will be stimulated, the report adds. Agriculture is Tanzania's economy mainstay, accounting for nearly 30% of GDP, and 67% of the workforce was employed in the sector in 2014. Most Tanzanian farmers are smallholders; few families cultivate more than two hectares. Around 20% of farmers use ox-ploughs, 10% use

Through the partnership with AXA Corporate Solutions on parametric weather insurance, the World bank helps in fight against severe weather and climate change’s impact on developing regions, writes the BorneoPost in Malaysia. AXA works with the World Bank Group’s GIIF to provide innovative and affordable parametric and weather-index linked insurance protection for the world’s most vulnerable, developing regions. To this end, AXA aims to leverage increasing volumes of satellite and weather data, in order to get the best possible views of drought, flood, and other weather risks that affect crop

Kenya's Standard Media interviewed experts and officials who participated at the "Operationalizing IndexInsurance in Kenya" training co-hosted by the World Bank, the Association of Kenyan Insurers, and the Africa Insurance Organization from June 8 -10, 2016. The event brought together the Kenyan government, the private sector, and members of the East African Insurance Market to discuss issues on products, innovations, and outreach strategies in the field of index insurance. "For the programme to succeed, key stakeholders like Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, insurers, Insurance Regulatory

Panos Varangis, the World Bank Group's Global Lead for agricultural finance and agricultural insurance in the Finance and Markets Global Practice, was speaking at a World Bank event on index insurance in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic's Diario Libre reports. To an audience, Mr. Varangis was presenting index insurance as an alternative financial instrument that can protect agricultural producers in Dominican Republic from hurricanes, tropical storms, and floods. The country loses an average of US $450 million a year since 1961 by events associated with these types of disasters. Dominican

Subsistence farmers are often among the world’s most poor and they will need access to financial products if they are to adapt to climate change and the extreme drought, floods and storms it brings, said Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands during the 4th International Climate Change Adaptation Conference in Rotterdam on May 11, 2016. Her Majesty believes that financial services that are more inclusive and insurance innovations, such as index insurance, help reduce many smallholder farmers' vulnerability and increase their ability to escape poverty, and also cites the the Kilimo Salama

In an article entitled “Index insurance: What you need to know”, Devex interviews Gloria Grandolini, the WBG’s Senior Director, and Gilles Galludec, GIIF Program Manager, on the Global Index Insurance Facility and how index insurance works. To help encourage the spread of index insurance as a risk management tool, GIIF is working with regional partners in developing countries, primarily sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia-Pacific. Over 1 million small farmers, pastoralists and small businesses have signed on — with over $130 million in sums insured. Click here to read

The World Bank has welcomed the government's partnership with local insurance companies in crop and livestock cover policies, saying they will benefit smallholder farmers.Country director for Kenya, Ms Diarietou Gaye, said the programme has the potential to positively impact the country's economic development since it will help increase production as well as producer incomes."The large majority of the poor in Kenya are farmers and it will enable them to adopt improved production processes to help break the poverty cycle of low investment and low returns," she said.The bank's Disaster Risk

NAIROBI, March 12, 2016- The Government of Kenya today launched the Kenya National Agricultural Insurance Program, which is designed to address the challenges that agricultural producers face when there are large production shocks, such as droughts and floods. The program, which is designed as a partnership between the government and the private sector, was developed with assistance from the World Bank Group and builds on the experience of similar programs in Mexico, India, and China. One program line will focus on livestock insurance, while another will focus on maize and wheat insurance.