Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights

This report explores evidence and insights from five case studies that have made significant recent progress in addressing the challenge of insuring poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the developing world. In India, national index insurance programmes have reached over 30 million farmers t...

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Main Authors: Greatrex, Helen, Hansen, James, Garvin S, Diro, R., Le Guen M, Blakeley S, Rao, Kolli, Osgood, D.
Format: Informe técnico
Language:Inglés
Published: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53101
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author Greatrex, Helen
Hansen, James
Garvin S
Diro, R.
Le Guen M
Blakeley S
Rao, Kolli
Osgood, D.
author_browse Blakeley S
Diro, R.
Garvin S
Greatrex, Helen
Hansen, James
Le Guen M
Osgood, D.
Rao, Kolli
author_facet Greatrex, Helen
Hansen, James
Garvin S
Diro, R.
Le Guen M
Blakeley S
Rao, Kolli
Osgood, D.
author_sort Greatrex, Helen
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This report explores evidence and insights from five case studies that have made significant recent progress in addressing the challenge of insuring poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the developing world. In India, national index insurance programmes have reached over 30 million farmers through a mandatory link with agricultural credit and strong government support. In East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania), the Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise (ACRE) has recently scaled to reach nearly 200,000 farmers, bundling index insurance with agricultural credit and farm inputs. ACRE has built on strong partnerships with regional initiatives such as M-PESA mobile banking. In Ethiopia and Senegal, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative has scaled unsubsidized index insurance to over 20,000 poor smallholder farmers who were previously considered uninsurable, using insurance as an integral part of a comprehensive risk management portfolio. With strong public and private sector support, the Mongolia Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project (IBLIP) insures more than 15,000 nomadic herders and links commercial insurance with a government disaster safety net. Finally, the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project in Kenya and Ethiopia demonstrates innovative approaches to insuring poor nomadic pastoralists in challenging circumstances. A few common features appear to have contributed to recent progress within these case studies: explicitly targeting obstacles to improving farmer income; integration of insurance with other development interventions; giving farmers a voice in the design of products; investing in local capacity; and investing in science-based index development. Evidence from these case studies can inform the ongoing debate about the viability of scaling up index-based insurance for vulnerable smallholder farmers in the developing world. The rapid progress observed in recent years suggests that index insurance has the potential to benefit smallholder farmers at a meaningful scale, and suggests the need to reassess arguments that lack of demand and practical implementation challenges prevent index-based insurance from being a useful tool to reduce rural poverty.
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spelling CGSpace531012024-11-20T17:40:22Z Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights Greatrex, Helen Hansen, James Garvin S Diro, R. Le Guen M Blakeley S Rao, Kolli Osgood, D. climate agriculture insurance smallholders agricultural insurance livestock insurance This report explores evidence and insights from five case studies that have made significant recent progress in addressing the challenge of insuring poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the developing world. In India, national index insurance programmes have reached over 30 million farmers through a mandatory link with agricultural credit and strong government support. In East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania), the Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise (ACRE) has recently scaled to reach nearly 200,000 farmers, bundling index insurance with agricultural credit and farm inputs. ACRE has built on strong partnerships with regional initiatives such as M-PESA mobile banking. In Ethiopia and Senegal, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative has scaled unsubsidized index insurance to over 20,000 poor smallholder farmers who were previously considered uninsurable, using insurance as an integral part of a comprehensive risk management portfolio. With strong public and private sector support, the Mongolia Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project (IBLIP) insures more than 15,000 nomadic herders and links commercial insurance with a government disaster safety net. Finally, the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project in Kenya and Ethiopia demonstrates innovative approaches to insuring poor nomadic pastoralists in challenging circumstances. A few common features appear to have contributed to recent progress within these case studies: explicitly targeting obstacles to improving farmer income; integration of insurance with other development interventions; giving farmers a voice in the design of products; investing in local capacity; and investing in science-based index development. Evidence from these case studies can inform the ongoing debate about the viability of scaling up index-based insurance for vulnerable smallholder farmers in the developing world. The rapid progress observed in recent years suggests that index insurance has the potential to benefit smallholder farmers at a meaningful scale, and suggests the need to reassess arguments that lack of demand and practical implementation challenges prevent index-based insurance from being a useful tool to reduce rural poverty. 2015-01 2015-01-23T10:34:21Z 2015-01-23T10:34:21Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53101 en Open Access application/pdf CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security Greatrex H, Hansen J, Garvin S, Diro R, Blakeley S, Le Guen M, Rao K, Osgood D. 2015. Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights. CCAFS Report No. 14. Copenhagen, Denmark: CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).
spellingShingle climate
agriculture
insurance
smallholders
agricultural insurance
livestock insurance
Greatrex, Helen
Hansen, James
Garvin S
Diro, R.
Le Guen M
Blakeley S
Rao, Kolli
Osgood, D.
Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title_full Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title_fullStr Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title_full_unstemmed Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title_short Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights
title_sort scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers recent evidence and insights
topic climate
agriculture
insurance
smallholders
agricultural insurance
livestock insurance
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/53101
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