On October 11, 2016, Joseph A. Owuor of The Insurance Regulatory Authority of Kenya presented a presentation entitled "Kenyan Experience with Parametric Insurance" at a workshop in Guatemala. Aimed at raising awareness on parametric insurance among supervisory authorities in Latin America and the Caribbean , t he First Regional Workshop on Parametric Insurance was put together by Microinsurance Catastrophe Risk Organisation (Micro) and participated by many stakeholders such as Access to Insurance Initiative, the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (Columbia University)

In Proparco's Private Sector & Development magazine, Chloe Dugger, Operations Officer in WBG's Finance and Markets Global Practice, and Rachel Sberro, Research Analyst on agriculture finance, write about WBG's Global Index Insurance Facility's experiences with index-based insurance in Senegal and Bangladesh. Their article focuses on micro- and meso-level approaches to distributing agricultural index insurance, which speeds up claims settlement by dispensing with loss assessments and payouts are determined on an objective basis, eliminating the risk of fraud. Please visit Proparco's Private

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

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

In a Sandee Working Paper, Mamata Swain and Sasmita Patnaik study two major crop insurance schemes operating in Odisha state of India: National Agricultural Insurance Scheme (NAIS) and the pilot Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS). NAIS provides compensation for yield losses due to natural causes and covers all food crops and commercial crops. WBCIS provides coverage for paddy crop yield losses due to rainfall only. Both schemes are compulsory for loanee farmers and are also available for non-loanee farmers on voluntary basis. In this study, we analyze and compare various indicators

Munich Re has released a study that reports on the latest activities and current state of microinsurance in Africa as part of the Microinsurance Network’s World Map of Microinsurance Programme. Aiming at providing a comprehensive understanding of the environment in which both microinsurance and traditional insurers operate in Africa, the publication contains data collected from over 200 microinsurance providers representing all 36 of 54 African countries where microinsurance is available. "The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the environment in which both microinsurance

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

Download full publication Crop insurance in the Sahel enables farmers to take a higherrisk by getting more fertilizers.Crop insurance in the Sahel stimulates the production of insured farmers compared with non-insured farmers. However, despite the apparent differences in fertilizers and production, the two groups get almost the same yield. Non-insured farmers seem to be more specialized in agriculture.

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