microfinance

MicroEnsure has been running a weather insurance pilot in Malawi, Africa since 2005 with the World Bank’s help and approval. Since then they have launched the product to farmers in Tanzania, Rwanda, India and the Philippines. Now they have announced that they will be opening up and offering policies to farmers in Kenya by the […]

It’s been widely reported in the last few weeks that an El Nino weather pattern is developing in the Pacific. The phenomenon causes a warming of the Pacific ocean which in turn affects weather patterns globally, although the worst affected are those surrounding the Pacific. El Nino conditions are thought to cause a weaker monsoon […]

GlobalAgRisk Inc has started a research programme looking to develop new index-based weather risk management tools and pilot test them in developing countries. The products will be created with the aim of helping smallholder farmers to continue to farm their land safe in the knowledge that major losses from local climate risks will be covered. […]

Since we began the Artemis blog one of the topics which has interested us, and hopefully our readership, is the innovation occurring in the re/insurance and risk transfer markets as they seek to provide mechanisms for people in developing nations to hedge and protect themselves against weather extremes. The development of products and initiatives which […]

Iffco Tokio have announced today that they are expanding the availability of their Barish Bima Yojna insurance product to further districts. The product, designed to protect farmers crops from either deficit or excess rainfall, has been well received and should serve as a model for others seeking to tap emerging markets with micro-insurance products to […]

LeapFrog Investments announced that they have raised $44m for a fund devoted to helping companies start microinsurance schemes in developing areas of the world. It’s the first fund of it’s kind and aims to help businesses bring insurance and financial services products to 25 million low income people in Africa and Asia. With microfinance schemes […]

Iffco Tokio, the joint venture between the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Co-operative (IFFCO) and Japanese insurer Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Group, is planning to launch a satellite based weather index for weather insurance use in India. The scheme is being worked on thanks to the help of a grant from the International Labour Organisation UN […]

Risk Management Solutions (RMS) have announced completion of a pilot project looking at the viability of bringing a micro-insurance scheme for earthquake risk to rural China. RMS say that with the appropriate support it is now viable to bring a product to market which could help protect low income households against major earthquakes through a […]

It’s really good to see that the Guardian newspaper, one of the largest circulation news sources in the UK, today carries an article on micro-insurance weather protection for farmers in India and the developing world. We are huge advocates of the potential benefits of these schemes, even though we do believe most currently in operation […]

All 16 member countries of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have renewed their policies with the hurricane and earthquake insurance pool. Member governments have been able to take advantage of effectively a 10% decrease in premiums due to receiving more cover for the same premium as last year. By pooling their risk the […]