Middle East and North Africa

Global Index Insurance Facility: Achievements Report (Phase 1: 2010-2015)
Global Index Insurance Facility has produced a report that captures the Program’s achievements and on the progress of project implementation during phase one: 2010-2015. These achievements and lessons learned are the result of joint efforts, hard work and commitment with GIIF's implementing partners on the ground as well as generous support from the donors. Prepared collaboratively by the GIIF team across the globe, this report also offers a snapshot of past and future activities, including GIIF’s roles in capacity-building, outreach and communications efforts. Available in English and in
Advancing Financial Inclusion Through Access to Insurance: the Role of Postal Networks
With 1.5 billion people worldwide getting access to financial services through a post office, postal networks are powerful tools to advance financial inclusion. Posts have already proved to have comparative advantages in remote areas and with specific vulnerable groups – the poor, the less educated and those in the informal economy – compared with other financial services providers. This study by the Universal Postal Union (UPU) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) delves into the transformative potential of postal networks into well-suited providers of insurance. The report
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Jan
This post was originally produced during the GIIF Conference held in Paris at the OECD Headquarters. The 6 key lessons learnt that emerge from the panel are as follows: Insurance needs to be part of a value add package that generates higher income for the farmers Governments play a key role in creating markets for agricultural insurance. Experiences in Peru, India and Senegal point to government interventions such as premium support, risk financing, and linkage to credit. There is a need to design and offer the right insurance product. Area Yield Index Insurance may offer an adequate
New Trends in Agricultual Finance
Agricultural finance is crucial to support the growth of the agricultural sector. Indeed, it is essential for food security, job creation, and overall economic growth. This synthesis report presents a summary of research studies on five key areas of agricultural finance innovation prepared under the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), as well as the presentations and discussions of these study findings during the “G20 Roundtable on Innovations in Agricultural Finance” convened on September 9, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey by the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance Sub-Group
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Nov
Interview with Xavier Gine, Lead Economist within the World Bank Research Department (DEC). 1/ What do we know about index insurance after about 10 years of experience? There has been a lot of research around the question of take-up and impact of index insurance. Despite the potentially large welfare benefits, voluntary take-up of index insurance products has been rather limited so far. Explanations for this low demand could include: The first reason is that the product may be expensive, relative to the existing risk coping strategies. After all, when it is not subsidized as is the case for
Interview with Gloria Grandolini, F&M GP Senior Director, World Bank Group Over the last 10 years , our work at the World Bank Group (WBG) has led to over 35 million farmers benefiting from new or improved insurance products. The WBG recognizes the importance of making available financial solutions, particularly insurance instruments to compensate for losses following adverse natural events.
20
Jul
What happens when a major national development organization – GIZ and a leading private insurer – Allianz SE get together to build innovation in micro-insurance? Watch full video of the event here Experts presented key insights on micro-insurance with a larger view on how these lessons learnt can be applied to other inclusive insurance projects and to various other sectors. The 60 minute session showcased case-studies ranging from how GIZ has assisted Allianz in turning a corporate responsibility charitable micro-insurance story into a fully-fledged and profitable micro-insurance business
Agriculture Insurance Conference - How can we make it work to contribute to food security?
The Conference will focus on how agricultural insurance and food security are linked and how this link is relevant for future development efforts. It will sharpen the understanding under what circumstances and how agricultural insurance can best contribute to food security and provides a platform to share experiences. The Conference welcomes food security and agricultural insurance experts, development organizations, insurance policy makers and regulators, academia and representatives from the private sector. View AIC 2014 panelist interviews here.
Index Insurance for Developing Countries
Unlike conventional insurance, which indemnifies policyholders for verifiable production losses arising from multiple perils, index insurance indemnifies policyholders based on the observed value of a specified “index” or some other closely related variable that is highly correlated with losses. Index insurance exhibits lower transaction costs than conventional insurance, potentially making it more affordable to the poor in the developing world. However, it also offers less effective individual risk protection. This article provides a review of recent theoretical and empirical research on index insurance for developing countries and summarizes lessons learned from index insurance projects implemented in the developing world since 2000
Climate Change and Crop Insurance in the United States
Climate Change and Crop Insurance in the United States OECD-INEA-FAO Workshop on Agriculture and Adaptation to Climate Change June 2012