Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that thousands of pastoralists across six counties in northern and eastern Kenya will get payouts this month under the Kenyan government's subsidized livestock insurance scheme. The disbursement will total nearly 215 million Kenyan shillings ($2.08 million), according to the article. Recently, the Government declared a national disaster after more than 2.7 million people across half of the country have been affected by a severe drought, the worst in six years. The Kenya Livestock Insurance Program (KLIP), launched last year, was developed by Kenya's Ministry

Ms. Fatou Assah (left) , Program Manager of the WBG's Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), and Mr. Antoine Bavadi (right) , Financial Sector Specialist from the Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance (DRFI) Program, spoke at the 41st General Assembly of FANAF (African Federation of Insurance Companies for African national law) on February 14. 2017 in Marrakech. The World Bank experts were sharing their international experiences with index insurance and catastrophic risk financing as risk management tools to protect communities from natural disasters and environmental hazards. The panel

WASHINGTON, February 14, 2017 - The World Bank Group’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) and African Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) have entered into an agreement to carry out a risk-sharing facility, in form of an experience account, to decrease premium levels for insured farmers and encourage local companies to create affordable insurance products. “Agriculture provides up to 60 percent of all jobs on the continent, but African farmers need greater access to insurance mechanisms to develop resilience to external shocks and protect their livelihoods,” said Makhtar Diop, World Bank

Australian farmers who took up multi-peril crop insurance claim it helped them sleep at night, not worrying about a third failed harvest, ABC News reports. The Australian Government is working to support the development of a more diverse and mature agricultural insurance market, including multi-peril crop insurance, the report also adds.

Compagnie Nationale d’Assurance Agricole du Sénégal (CNAAS) has selected Africa Re, the most prominent African Reinsurer, to lead the reinsurance program of 40,000 cotton and maize farmers in Senegal, jointly with AXA CS and CICA Re, according to a press release issued by Africa Re. The news indicates a positive development in the agriculture sector in Senegal, which accounts for 35% of annual GDP, as the country is facing several climate-related risks including drought and floods, undermining food production and jeopardizing food security. The development of index insurance in Senegal can be

In a study, a research economist at the Institute of Policy Studies finds that index insurance could be a feasible option for Sri Lankan farmers if they had greater education and awareness that overcomes existing lack of trust, EconomyNext reports . It is not uncommon that fa rmers have become skeptical about insurance after they heard about other bad experiences other farmers had with indemnity insurance. The lack of trust, as the farmers are unsure whether they will get benefits when disaster strikes, hinders the development and wider implementation of index insurance.

The Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP) has rolled out a scheme that will make insurance for farmers easy to access, Ghana's Graphic Online reports. “The future is bright for agricultural insurance, what we need now is for farmers to embrace it. That is why we are working towards that. Because we have financial institutions who have expressed interest to partner with us and whatever they lend to farmers would have an insurance component, so that in the bad years the farmers would be comfortable and the financial institutions would be comfortable,” said General Manager Alhaji Ali Muhammad

Bloomberg BusinessWeek wrote an article that discusses crop insurance in Africa, whose potential to benefit the region's farmers remains relatively unlocked. "Africa has struggled to marshal the necessary resources to unlock their agricultural potential. Gains in one area, such as better seed, are often stymied by deficits in others—not enough grain silos. Getting smaller farmers plugged into credit networks would help spur investment and bring new producers to markets," says Ulrich Hess, a senior adviser to Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. In Africa, index insurance

The recent downpours across Botswana have submerged crops and left livestock dead, Mmegi Online reports. Against this backdrop, agriculturers should be prepared for climate applications including climate-smart agricultural practices. " In this regard, dissemination of agro-weather advisories and other climate-smart agricultural practices will be enhanced through Public Private Partnerships," the report adds. Such agro-advisory services is estimated to facilitate greater investment from the private sector in priority areas including weather-based index insurance and associated infrastructure.

In an interview with ABC News Australia, Jay Horton, an agribusiness consultant with Strategis Partners says only few Australian farmers subscribe to insurance despite the huge risk of growing a crop each year. Mr. Norton also notes that that while some companies in Australia offer multi-peril crop insurance (MPCI), even fewer offer index insurance. This situation contrasts the fact that "insurance reduces the likelihood that the company will have to raise costly external capital at the wrong time." Mr. Horton also urges better forms of risk management in the agricultural sector in Australia