Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers

This piece on "The Conversation" highlights how emerging innovations in technology, product design and gender inclusion can expand access to agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers across Africa. As climate change intensifies droughts, floods and other weather extremes, smallholders remain hi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kramer, Berber, Hill, Ruth Vargas
Formato: Opinion Piece
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: The Conversation 2025
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178509
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author Kramer, Berber
Hill, Ruth Vargas
author_browse Hill, Ruth Vargas
Kramer, Berber
author_facet Kramer, Berber
Hill, Ruth Vargas
author_sort Kramer, Berber
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This piece on "The Conversation" highlights how emerging innovations in technology, product design and gender inclusion can expand access to agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers across Africa. As climate change intensifies droughts, floods and other weather extremes, smallholders remain highly exposed, yet traditional insurance models have struggled to reach them due to high costs, limited trust and administrative challenges. The authors discuss how smartphone-based photo verification can simplify loss assessment, how insurance “coupons” can make premiums more affordable at the point of purchase, and how strengthening women’s rights and decision-making power can increase both uptake and the equitable distribution of benefits. They also underscore the value of complementing formal insurance with existing informal risk-sharing networks. Together, these innovations can lower barriers to participation, reduce basis risk, and create more inclusive insurance markets, which will help scale climate-risk protection across the continent.
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spelling CGSpace1785092025-12-03T19:44:26Z Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers Kramer, Berber Hill, Ruth Vargas crop insurance climate resilience policies agriculture risk transfer extreme weather events livelihoods food security mobile phones This piece on "The Conversation" highlights how emerging innovations in technology, product design and gender inclusion can expand access to agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers across Africa. As climate change intensifies droughts, floods and other weather extremes, smallholders remain highly exposed, yet traditional insurance models have struggled to reach them due to high costs, limited trust and administrative challenges. The authors discuss how smartphone-based photo verification can simplify loss assessment, how insurance “coupons” can make premiums more affordable at the point of purchase, and how strengthening women’s rights and decision-making power can increase both uptake and the equitable distribution of benefits. They also underscore the value of complementing formal insurance with existing informal risk-sharing networks. Together, these innovations can lower barriers to participation, reduce basis risk, and create more inclusive insurance markets, which will help scale climate-risk protection across the continent. 2025-11-11 2025-12-03T19:44:25Z 2025-12-03T19:44:25Z Opinion Piece https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178509 en https://saiia.org.za/research/crop-insurance-for-climate-resilience-priorities-for-south-africas-g20-presidency/ Open Access The Conversation Kramer, Berber; and Hill, Ruth Vargas. 2025. Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers. The Conversation. Published on November 11, 2025. https://doi.org/10.64628/AAJ.6wkxs9tng
spellingShingle crop insurance
climate resilience
policies
agriculture
risk transfer
extreme weather events
livelihoods
food security
mobile phones
Kramer, Berber
Hill, Ruth Vargas
Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title_full Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title_fullStr Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title_full_unstemmed Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title_short Smartphones, women’s rights and coupons: New trends that can boost insurance for African farmers
title_sort smartphones women s rights and coupons new trends that can boost insurance for african farmers
topic crop insurance
climate resilience
policies
agriculture
risk transfer
extreme weather events
livelihoods
food security
mobile phones
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/178509
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