Despite representing only a small portion of the total Property & Casualty market, parametric insurance has evolved rapidly in the last decade. This relatively new approach to insurance is index-based. At AXA, we believe that parametric insurance will continue to flourish in the future. Despite representing only a small portion of the total Property & Casualty market, parametric insurance has evolved rapidly in the last decade. This relatively new approach to insurance is index-based. For instance, in some geographies, claims could be paid out based on actual meteorological conditions measured

Smallholder farmers need finance. According to a recent report of 1,800 banks conducted by the Initiative for Smallholder Finance – “ Local Bank Financing for Smallholder Farmers: A $9 Billion Drop in the Ocean ” - local banks in developing countries are currently lending approximately $9 billion to smallholder farmers compared to a total estimated demand of $300 billion globally for smallholder finance ($450 billion if China is included) . Although smallholder farmer financing also occurs through MFIs and non- financial intermediaries like supply chain participants, cooperatives and

Collier argues that index insurance is best suited to cover disasters which occur every 20 years or greater because severe risks lower premium costs. Below are excerpts form the interview. Q: You have done substantial research, notably with Jerry Skees on index insurance. Why do you think that index insurance needs to be designed as “disaster insurance” rather than “crop insurance”? A: We need a new frame of reference for household markets. Up to now, the consensus focus has been crop yields. Yet the effects of bad weather on household well-being are often multifaceted and poorly captured by

In an interview with the GIIF Team, Aaltje de Roos, Senior Policy Advisor - Department for Sustainable Economic Development at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, explains why the Netherlands provides substantial donor support for agri-insurance programs in developing countries, including the World Bank Group's Global Index Insurance Facility. Q: What role would the Netherlands like to see the World Bank Group, and specifically GIIF, play in the agri-insurance field over the next 5-10 years? A: The World Bank Group, and GIIF especially, can boost the private insurance branch in

Farmers know that there will be years when the crop yields are reduced, or prices will be low. Perhaps they will diversify their crops, depend on livestock, or purchase a system to irrigate their crops. All these are ways to mitigate and reduce their risks. When there is no insurance culture or trust in insurance companies -and insurance companies themselves may not have extensive experience selling agricultural insurance - there is understandably little interest to purchase crop insurance. In such cases, it is the government who is the de facto insurer because crop losses of more than 50

BERLIN, November 27, 2014—The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), an innovative program managed by the World Bank Group, launched today the Index Insurance Forum at the Agricultural Insurance Conference in Berlin. The Index Insurance Forum will serve as a unique forum for knowledge sharing and exchange of best practices among index-insurance practitioners and industry representatives.