In mid September, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) helped launch an innovative new data platform in Lusaka, Zambia that combines satellite rainfall estimates with the country’s existing network of rain gauges. The platform, developed with the Zambia Meteorological Department and through funding from NASA, is the latest to come out of IRI’s Enhancing National Climate Services (ENACTS) initiative which aims to address the persistent problem of data scarcity and lack of access to climate information products in many African countries. The World Bank Group’s

The World Bank has worked with insurers, reinsurers, brokers, banks, agribusinesses and governments to develop index insurance programs through the Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance Program and the Global Index Insurance Facility, managed out of the Finance and Markets Global Practice. As climate change adaptation and disaster risk management have become mainstream in development work, focus on index insurance has increased because uninsured losses keep vulnerable populations in poverty. In a World Bank feature story, two experts reflect on their work on index insurance and its use as a

In a New York Times' Opinion, Tina Rosenberg wrote that Andrew Mude, a Kenyan economist at the International Livestock Research Institute, is helping headers in Southern Africa insure their liveshock. Dr. Mude was awarded the Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, which is a major prize in agricultural research, given by the World Food Prize Foundation. "Mude’s program began in one Kenyan county in 2010. Today, about 16,000 families are insured; most are in Kenya, and some are in southern Ethiopia," the op-ed says. To read the article on New York Times, please click here.

Ghana is celebrating its Farmers’ Day with the theme "Agriculture: A Business Response To Economic Growth". The theme focuses on addressing alternative financial and agricultural solutions that will protect farmers from erratic weather conditions. One of the innovative solutions the country has is the project dubbed “Innovative Insurance Products for the Adaptation to Climate Change” (IIPACC), led by the German Development Co-operation (GIZ), in concert with other relevant stakeholders. "The project, which started in December 2009, sought to facilitate the development and introduction of

IFC partnered with CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Incorporated (CPMI) in the Philippines to design and launch a new crop-insurance product to protect farmers from typhoon-related losses. It will initially target CARD’s farmer clients. CARD is the Philippines’ largest micro-finance institution with four million clients. “This is the first private sector-led crop-insurance product in the Philippines and a ground-breaking initiative by our partners CPMI and CARD,” said country manager Yuan Xu.The agriculture sector contributes approximately 11 percent of the country’s GDP and provides employment for

Farmers will better hedge against crop damage by pests or natural disasters under the Binhi Crop Insurance Program launched by non-life insurer, CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc, Manila Standard has reported. The International Finance Corp. and the insurer conceived the program to help farmers and micro finance institutions maintain crop insurance. Since the risks of the farmers are better protected, financial institutions can more confidently lend to them. Initially, the crop insurance will be offered to members of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions, and then it will reach out to as many

In a Business Mirror article, reporter Cai Orginario wrote about Binhi Crop Insurance, the first crop insurance offered by a private company in the Philippines. Binhi Crop Insurance was developed by CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. (CPMI) in collaboration with the World Bank’s private-sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC). " Initially, the crop insurance will just be available for CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) agriculture loan clients. After six months, the crop insurance can be availed by rice and corn farmers who are part of cooperatives and are clients

Dr. Andrew Mude of the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, has been named the recipient of this year’s Norman Borlaug Award for his work in providing insurance to livestock herders in East Africa’s drylands through innovative, state-of-the art technologies. On October 12, 2016, Dr. Mude, a World Bank Group's grantee, was formally presented with US$10,000 and the “Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application, endowed by the Rockefeller Foundation”, in Des Moines, Iowa, as part of the 2016 World Food Prize international symposium. The award was given in

In a Harvard Business Review article, authors Dean KarlanRebecca, MannJake Kendall, Rohini PandeTavneet, and SuriJonathan Zinman discuss why microfinance is an imporant instrument for people in poverty to protect themselves from shocks such as illness, crop failures, livestock deaths, farming-equipment breakdowns and even wedding or funeral expenses. The article also sheds some light on why uninsured risk — not lack of access to capital — is a primary constraint on investment by farmers. "In India, when farmers were given rainfall index insurance, six percent more farmers focused production

In an interview with The Ethiopian Herald, published on AllAfrica.com, Solomon Zegeye, Micro Insurance Business Manager at Nyala Insurance Company, said weather index insurance service provided for smallholder farmers has registered positive outcomes in Ethiopia. "The World Bank and the World Food Program (WFP) are also playing crucial role in research and interpretation," said Zegeya on how d onors are involved in the process in providing finance, advise and other technical support. Although farming is the backbone of Ethiopia's economy, it is highly vulnerable to drought, weed, and pests