This presentation overviews catastrophic risks, natural disasters and the rural poor, as weather disrupts and negatively impacts the lives and livelihoods of the poor in developing countries. Index insurance options are proposed for the rural poor as cost-effective options that improve the resiliency for the rural poor. In order to develop these index insurance markets for the rural poor, however, it is necessary for governments to get involved to overcome initial challenges. The presentation also gives examples of index insurance and examples from cases of selected GlobalAgRisk projects.