Climate insurance scheme takes off, set to help women farmers in Africa, Asia

A climate insurance scheme aimed at helping four million poor people in Africa and Asia has taken off with the organisers stating that it will rebuild their lives after climate disasters.

The insurance programme – covering droughts in Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Zambia and Cambodia, and tropical cyclones in Myanmar – will support mostly women farmers and their families.

According to Stefan Hirche, Board chairman of InsuResilience, “Asian and African countries are highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and natural catastrophes. The objective is to reduce the vulnerability of small businesses and low-income households in those regions, he added.
The African and Asian Resilience in Disaster Insurance Scheme (ARDIS) is being led by Vision Fund International, the microfinance arm of development charity World Vision, and Global Parametric, a new venture backed by the British and German governments.
80 percent clients of vision fund are women, The climate insurance program is run by a non-governmental groups, while 80 per cent clients of vision fund are women.

According to the organizers, more than 690,000 families, totaling 4 million people, are to benefit from the scheme.
InsuResilience Investment Fund’s Hirche said the scheme would also contribute toward a G7 goal to increase the number of vulnerable people with access to direct or indirect insurance against climate disasters by up to 400 million by 2020.