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Innovations in Insurance for Weather-Related Losses: Index Insurance

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Publication date
12/04/2007
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Working Papers & Briefs
Focus Region:
Global
Focus Topic:
Climate / Weather / Environment
Type of Risk:
Weather & Climate related
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk transfer
Commodity:
Crops
Livestock
Author
Jerry Skees, A. Murphy, M. J. McCord
Organization
AMAP Microinsurance

The rural poor, economically dependent on agricultural production, face significant risks to their livelihoods from catastrophic weather events that cause widespread crop failure, with implications not only for the affected households, but for the whole rural economy. Index insurance is an innovation that circumvents many of the fundamental problems that hamper the development of insurance for weather risks in lower income countries. Payments are made based upon an objective index, with no need to calculate actual losses for each individual.

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