PlaNet Guarantee, member of the PlaNet Finance Group, and the GIIF come together to launch the first regional management platform for index insurance. The objective is to cover 60 000 farmers in West Africa by 2015

While agriculture remains the main economic sector in West Africa (on average 30% of the GDP of countries in the region and 70% of the workforce), no risk management tool is offered to farmers to secure their income.

In case of drought, floods, or due to other factors that could cause a significant drop in yields, farmers currently receive no form of protection. The traditional agricultural insurance is rarely suitable for farmers with low financial capacity. It is necessary to develop specific solutions, such as index insurance which can be tailored to address the needs of poor farmers and organizations that finance and source produce from this segment of the farming community. The objective of the project is to promote the development of innovative index insurance solutions tailored to developing countries. The project is supported by the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), a program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched in 2009. GIIF is funded by the European Commission, the ACP Secretariat, and the Japan Ministry of Finance.