The linkage between agriculture and climate change is undeniable. Any change in the climate has significant effects on crop yields and livestock, which intensifies the agriculture sector’s vulnerability to weather and disaster risks. More frequent extreme weather events and natural disasters distress the poor and the vulnerable most heavily and, as a result, agricultural and index-based insurance products have increasingly been regarded as significant tools for smallholder farmers to protect themselves from financial losses. As we know, insurance normally provides valuable access to credit and

The linkage between agriculture and climate change is undeniable. Any change in the climate has significant effects on crop yields and livestock, which intensifies the agriculture sector’s vulnerability to weather and disaster risks. More frequent extreme weather events and natural disasters distress the poor and the vulnerable most heavily and, as a result, agricultural and index-based insurance products have increasingly been regarded as significant tools for smallholder farmers to protect themselves from financial losses. As we know, insurance normally provides valuable access to credit and

On May 22-24, 2018, the IFC Eastern Europe and Central Asia Agri-Finance Project held a 3-day seminar titled “Basic principles of development of index insurance products" for the insurance market of Ukraine. The seminar was a continuation of work started in summer of 2017 that aimed at developing local skills for index insurance and, once again, was led by Shadreck Mapfumo, GIIF Senior Financial Sector Specialist. Mr. Mapfumo and the participants deep dived into the fundamentals of index product modeling based on real data and modern actuarial models. The event was organized with the support

Agri-insurance is a financial product that protects farmers from potential losses resulting from weather events or disease. By enabling farmers to protect their businesses, agricultural insurance also reduces lending risks, which increases the amount of credit available in this vital sector. In Ukraine, IFC and Syngenta worked together to pilot-test index insurance — which bases claims on independently verifiable weather data — for wheat and corn. This SmartLesson explores the possibility of developing index insurance as a new and important financial instrument that helps farmers and

In June 2017, IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and two biggest insurance associations in Ukraine — League of Insurance Organizations of Ukraine and Ukrainian Federation on Insurance (UFU) — jointly organized an index insurance workshop entitled “Strategic Decisions Metrics for Agriculture Index Insurance” for all interested insurance companies and other market participants. Instructor Shadreck Mapfumo, GIIF Senior Financial Specialist, led the three-day workshop which introduced new approaches to the agri-insurance product development to the local participants. A total of 38

In 2011 The World Bank Group launched a feasibility study on developing an Index Insurance pilot in Uruguay, funded by the Government of Japan through the Global Index Insurance Facility. The study quantified the total number of reproductive livestock units as 3.8 million countrywide, with 315 million USD total sum insured. The corresponding number of livestock producers was estimated at 38,000. The outputs of this technical and financial assistance has allowed the Government of Uruguay to start pilot testing an innovative Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) index insurance to cover

Global Index Insurance Facility has produced a report that captures the Program’s achievements and on the progress of project implementation during phase one: 2010-2015. These achievements and lessons learned are the result of joint efforts, hard work and commitment with GIIF's implementing partners on the ground as well as generous support from the donors. Prepared collaboratively by the GIIF team across the globe, this report also offers a snapshot of past and future activities, including GIIF’s roles in capacity-building, outreach and communications efforts. Available in English and in

With 1.5 billion people worldwide getting access to financial services through a post office, postal networks are powerful tools to advance financial inclusion. Posts have already proved to have comparative advantages in remote areas and with specific vulnerable groups – the poor, the less educated and those in the informal economy – compared with other financial services providers. This study by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) delves into the transformative potential of postal networks into well-suited providers of insurance. The report

Agricultural finance is crucial to support the growth of the agricultural sector. Indeed, it is essential for food security, job creation, and overall economic growth. This synthesis report presents a summary of research studies on five key areas of agricultural finance innovation prepared under the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), as well as the presentations and discussions of these study findings during the “G20 Roundtable on Innovations in Agricultural Finance” convened on September 9, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey by the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance Sub-Group

In the last decade, some insurance associations (IAs) have expanded beyond their traditional core functions to develop insurance consumer education (ICE) programmes. Based on a review of the experiences of IAs in five countries, namely Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mexico and South Africa, Microinsurance Paper #31 discusses the steps that should be taken during the preparation of an ICE. These include assigning responsibility internally, defining funding mechanisms, setting clear goals, defining the programme target and identifying partnership opportunities. It goes on to summarize key lessons for