The First JICA Weather Index Insurance Pilot has taken off in Ethiopia!
JICA started implementing the Rural Resilience Enhancement Project
(RREP) in Ethiopia in April, 2012. The Goal of this project is to
enhance rural resilience against climate change impacts such as drought
in Oromia and Somali Regions. To achieve this goal, JICA's project team
RREP has introduced JICA's first Weather Index Insurance in 15 kebeles
in Oromia Region. Unlike traditional crop insurance products, farmers
will be able to get payout simply if the rainfall amount is below a
certain level. Remarkably, nearly 1,300 farmers were registered in the
2013 season. This result is indeed equal around 10% of the total
households in the Project area. The JICA RREP Team plans to scale up the
Pilot Project to reduce drought risk, as well as to promote more
productive farming and improved livelihoods in Ethiopia.
