Workstream 2:
Action & Implementation

Enable effective action and implementation of high-quality Climate and Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance solutions in poor and vulnerable countries

Program Alliance Partner Update – Summary of Global Index Insurance Facility Activities in 2020

By the World Bank Group

The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) enhances access to finance for smallholder farmers, micro-entrepreneurs and microfinance institutions through the provision of catastrophic risk transfer solutions and index-based insurance in developing countries. To date, GIIF’s regional partners have facilitated nearly eight million contracts, covering approximately 40 million beneficiaries with a sum insured amounting to USD 1.5 billion.

So far, the programme has managed to issue approximately eight million agriculture insurance policies, with an estimated outreach of 40 million beneficiaries globally (cumulative number since 2010). At the beginning of the global Covid-19 pandemic, we conducted a comprehensive survey with 11 implementing partners in Africa and Asia in order to understand the impact of the situation on insurance operations.

The questions focused on collecting feedback about direct, indirect and immediate consequences of the pandemic on agricultural insurance business renewals, business generation, their appetite for agricultural insurance products in the near future and the mitigation measures they are putting in place to cope with the pandemic situation. Although the general outlook portrays a concerning perspective on policy renewal and new business generation, most insurers highlighted that they would retain their interest in agriculture insurance. Some even indicated an increased willingness to diversify their portfolio and commented that digital or insurtech solutions were valued as viable means for minimizing the negative impact on their operations.

Women sorting cotton in Punjab Province, Pakistan. As part of the “Strengthening Markets for Agriculture and Rural Transformation in Punjab” (SMART Punjab) project, GIIF has been providing insurance solutions to improve farmers’ resilience to climate change and natural disasters.

New activities in 2020:

In February, GIIF clients in Cameroon - AXA Cameroun and ACTIVA Assurances - held the first compensation ceremony for insured cotton farmers who experienced production losses during the 2019 cropping season

New activities in 2020 (continued)

Farmers in Senegal receiving their payouts from African Risk Capacity to cover losses due to crop failures resulting from the severe rainfall deficits and drought during the 2019 agricultural season.

Ongoing insurtech activities: