This article focuses on two technical assistance projects using aggregate index-based risk transfer products (IBRTPs) to transfer significant natural disaster risks, which affect agricultural production over wide regions. When considering how the costs of natural disasters are internalized, it is important to look at institutional arrangements, particularly in the financial sector. Failed institutions attempting to cope with natural disaster risks represent a common story and underscores the importance of making the costs of natural disaster risk more explicit, and of considering new ways to mix market mechanisms and government initiatives to transfer this risk, therefore, putting greater emphasis on ex ante rules and procedures than on ex post responses. This positive approach imposes discipline, transparency, and efficiency to influence the broader financial markets of insurance, credit, and savings.