Back to Library

Climate change and weather risk management: evidence from index-based insurance schemes in China and Ethiopia

Published by:
Document
Download
Publication date
18/06/2014
Number of Pages
22
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Books
Focus Region:
Asia and the Pacific
Sub-Saharan Africa
Focus Topic:
Climate / Weather / Environment
Type of Risk:
Natural disasters
Weather & Climate related
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk transfer
Commodity:
Crops
Author
Niels Balzer, Ulrich Hess
Organization
World Food Program (WFP)

This chapter introduces and reviews WFP’s weather index-based insurance pilot schemes at both the macro and micro levels in Ethiopia and China. It argues that although index insurance is not a “one-size-fits-all” solution for risk management, it can – when combined with existing disaster risk reduction projects – make important, market-based contributions to sustainable safety nets and agricultural growth in the rural areas of developing countries. In collaboration with insurance companies, governments and agencies such as WFP can play crucial roles in enabling and facilitating the start up of such insurance interventions.