In Brief: Kenyan farmers' insurance scheme expands

Photo: Waweru Mugo/IRIN
Insurable crops include maize, wheat, beans and sorghum (file photo)
NAIROBI, 9 March 2011 (IRIN) - The companies behind an innovative micro-insurance scheme for Kenyan farmers have expanded the plan to cover not only inputs but also harvests.

Kilimo Salama (“safe farming” in Kiswahili), which was launched in 2009 by UAP Insurance, Syngenta Foundation and mobile operator Safaricom, uses automated weather stations and mobile-phone technology to take out insurance when making purchases at farm shops. It has now been rebranded as Kilimo Salama Plus.

The range of insurable crops has also increased and now includes maize, wheat, beans and sorghum, while the number of insured farmers is set to increase from 12,000 to a potential 50,000, according to Marco Ferroni, executive director of the Syngenta Foundation.

am/mw

More on micro-insurance:
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Taking the risk out of subsistence farming
ETHIOPIA: Taking the disaster out of drought
KENYA: Covered for drought
CLIMATE CHANGE: Down to the wire on adaptation money

Theme (s): Food Security, In Brief,

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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