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Our 2025 Youth Fellowship is live! Find out more and apply here: 2025 Youth Fellowship
Language
English
Tuesday, 17 September 2024 | By Climate Champions
Expanding climate insurance for Filipino farmers
The Philippines is advancing its efforts to protect farmers from climate-related risks through an expanded weather-based insurance initiative. Building on a successful 2021 pilot, the project – supported by CLIMBS Life and General Insurance Cooperative, IBISA, and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture – aims to extend coverage from 15 to 60 provinces, reaching 36,000 farmers by 2025. The initiative focuses on insuring loan portfolios and agricultural production against excess rainfall, wind, and drought, using advanced risk modeling and Earth Observation data to ensure fair and accurate pricing. The insurance primarily benefits cooperatives with members growing key crops like rice, maize, coffee, and cacao, providing critical financial protection and stability in a sector that employs 26% of the country’s workforce.
Running from January 2023 to December 2025, with a grant of EUR 713,850, the project also aims to boost the economic resilience of the Philippines’ agricultural communities by increasing the lending capacity of cooperatives and ensuring swift claims processing. By the project’s end, it is expected to benefit 360,000 farmers, significantly enhancing their ability to withstand the financial impacts of natural disasters
Strengthening agricultural resilience in Uzbekistan
A new insurance initiative is being rolled out across Uzbekistan’s Fergana Valley, targeting the country’s vital horticulture and vegetable sectors. The program will offer comprehensive coverage against a range of threats – including spring frost, wind, hail, flood, fire, irrigation failure, and pests – providing a safety net for small-scale Dehqan farmers and commercial growers alike.
The project, a collaboration between key stakeholders like Uzagrosugurta, Europa Re AG, Swiss RE, and Semurg, aims to design insurance products for up to six crops, with initial focus on apricots, cherries, grapes, and vegetables. By 2025, the project expects to benefit nearly 259,000 farmers, most of whom are among the country’s poorest and most vulnerable. In addition to insurance product design, the initiative includes capacity building for government stakeholders, awareness campaigns for farmers, and a thorough market assessment of the existing legal and regulatory frameworks.
Protecting Togo’s vulnerable communities from flood risks
In response to the growing threat of floods, exacerbated by climate change and urbanization, Togo is launching an initiative to safeguard its most vulnerable communities. The project focuses on the cities of Kpalimé, Golfe 1, and Golfe 7, aiming to reduce flood risks through advanced mapping, adaptation strategies, and a new insurance mechanism. With a timeline stretching to 2050 and considering various climate scenarios, the project will model the evolution of flood risks and propose cost-effective measures to protect critical infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and markets.
The project, supported by partners like AXA Climate and Howden, will introduce an index-based flood insurance product designed to enhance the resilience of Togo’s municipalities. Targeting over 351,000 beneficiaries by 2025, this initiative is particularly focused on helping the poorest and most vulnerable populations. Key activities include detailed risk assessments, product development, and stakeholder coordination to ensure that the insurance mechanism is both effective and sustainable.
Enhancing flood protection for Morocco’s coastal cities
In a bid to protect its coastal communities from the rising threat of floods, Morocco is launching a cutting-edge initiative that combines the power of IoT technology with advanced flood risk management. The project will see the deployment of flood sensors across key urban areas such as Tetouan, Kenitra, Rabat, Salé, Marrakech, Tanger, and Casablanca, targeting regions most vulnerable to the increasing impact of rising sea levels and flash floods.
With the support of partners like Gallagher Re and Société Centrale de Réassurance (SCR), the project will enhance Morocco’s flood risk model, enabling real-time monitoring and improving early warning systems. This initiative also includes the development of a macro-level, index-based flood insurance product designed specifically for vulnerable and uninsured households, covering property damage and personal injuries caused by urban flooding. By 2025, the project aims to provide protection to over 140,000 individuals, with a focus on those most at risk and unable to afford traditional insurance.
Gaia Vince: “When I look at the practical progress that's been made, it is in cities where the most progressive action is taking place"
Wednesday, 19 February 2025
