Data

“The Risk Modelling and Strategic Decision Making for Index Insurance” Technical Workshop
More than 50 participants from 13 African nations gathered in Accra, Ghana, from May 1-5, 2017 to attend a regional workshop focusing on the fundamentals of risk modeling for index insurance and to discuss a wide array of agricultural insurance topics. “ The Risk Modelling and Strategic Decision Making for Index Insurance” workshop was organized by the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), in collaboration with African Reinsurance Corporation. Managed by the World Bank Group’s Finance & Markets Global Practice, GIIF provides smallholder farmers, pastoralists, microentrepreneurs, and
Result Stories: Senegal
Mr. Ndianko Sakho, a Senegalese millet producer, speaks about his experience with agricultural index-based insurance in a new GIIF Result Stories. "In the past, farmers had no climate risk management tool. Today with the introduction of agricultural insurance, I can say that some of our concerns are taken into account. The real challenge right now is to set up a national network of coverage in order to allow all Senegalese farmers to have access to agricultural index micro insurance," says Mr. Sakho. The Result Stories is part of a new bilingual series produced in 2017 to capture farmers'
New Climate Data in Zambia Unlocks Insurance Opportunities
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
Facilitating Dialogue on Index Insurance Between the Public and Private Sector
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
Sandee Working Paper: Performance Assessment of Crop Insurance Schemes in Odisha in Eastern India
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
Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands: Financial Inclusion Required to Help Smallholder Farmers Adapt to Climate Change
Subsistence farmers are often among the world’s most poor and they will need access to financial products if they are to adapt to climate change and the extreme drought, floods and storms it brings, said Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands during the 4th International Climate Change Adaptation Conference in Rotterdam on May 11, 2016. Her Majesty believes that financial services that are more inclusive and insurance innovations, such as index insurance, help reduce many smallholder farmers' vulnerability and increase their ability to escape poverty, and also cites the the Kilimo Salama
Kenya; World Bank Sees Good Yields in Crop Insurance
The World Bank has welcomed the government's partnership with local insurance companies in crop and livestock cover policies, saying they will benefit smallholder farmers.Country director for Kenya, Ms Diarietou Gaye, said the programme has the potential to positively impact the country's economic development since it will help increase production as well as producer incomes."The large majority of the poor in Kenya are farmers and it will enable them to adopt improved production processes to help break the poverty cycle of low investment and low returns," she said.The bank's Disaster Risk
Kenyan Farmers to Benefit From Innovative Insurance Program
NAIROBI, March 12, 2016- The Government of Kenya today launched the Kenya National Agricultural Insurance Program, which is designed to address the challenges that agricultural producers face when there are large production shocks, such as droughts and floods. The program, which is designed as a partnership between the government and the private sector, was developed with assistance from the World Bank Group and builds on the experience of similar programs in Mexico, India, and China. One program line will focus on livestock insurance, while another will focus on maize and wheat insurance.
Agriculture Focus - Parametric Insurance Solution Against Climate Change Effects
Mr. Tanguy Touffut of AXA Corporate Solutions discusses the benefits of parametric insurance, which he sees as a promising solution for farmers and other weather-sensitive industries against climate-change effects. It is nothing new: climate change, a phenomenon in full effect, has many drastic consequences of all types for people, companies, and entire economies alike. It has been observed that weather extremes are increasing as a consequence of climate change. In January 2015, AXA Corporate Solutions entered into a partnership with the World Bank’s Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF). The
Insurance for Small Farms' Crops Takes Root
In a VOA article, the Kilimo Salama projected, funded by the Global Index Insurance Facility and the Syngenta Foundation, is cited for having provided insurance to about 200,000 farmers in east Africa, mainly in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania. Because it is so expensive to verify losses on large numbers of small landholdings, the traditional type of individual loss-based insurance is not always viable. That has led to index-based insurance for smallholder farmers for weather-related risks. In the long run in the developing world, specialists say, what is needed most is investment in science and