rice farm in Nepal

Index Insurance Innovation Initiative (I4)

I4 logoThe MRR Innovation Lab’s Index Insurance Innovation Initiative (I4) is advancing knowledge and action on agricultural index insurance as a tool for small-scale farmers and pastoralists to manage weather and other risks, increasing their long-term self-sufficiency and resilience.

I4 efforts focus on three key areas of innovation:

  • Improving the accuracy and precision of how a given index can estimate individual farmer losses, including those using cutting edge remote sensing technologies
  • Bundling index insurance with other innovations and interventions to improve access to markets and delivery of benefits
  • Advancing the international adoption of a Minimum Quality Standard (MQS) for agricultural index insurance to ensure consumers have confidence that contracts will protect them and to promote market growth

I4 researchers and staff are also enabling action on index insurance quality and access with regular outreach and consultation to governments, donors and those in the private sector. The Global Action Network (GAN) convened leading experts and stakeholders to identify market needs and to package knowledge on improving access and quality. I4 is also developing a suite of resources to guide efforts to Assess, Design and Scale effective index insurance interventions for development.

Agricultural Index Insurance Knowledge Base

I4 Toolkits

farm in Nepal

Agricultural Index Insurance for Development Impact Stage 1: Assessment

Stage 1 of the toolkit Agricultural Index Insurance for Development Impact is a framework that lays out initial steps to identifying the populations and commodities for which a safe and effective agricultural index insurance product can be designed to achieve your development objectives.

I4 projects

workshop

Agricultural Insurance in Nepal

This feasibility study will determine in what contexts in Nepal the development impacts of insurance-based risk management strategies would be maximized, and will assess whether there is data available to create an effective index for an insurance product.
India farmer

Financial Initiatives to Help the Poor Manage Agriculture Risk in India

This research puts emphasis on extending access to all in order to make financial liberalization a strategy that helps all levels of society. The project also informs the development of weather insurance programs worldwide, as well as helps clarify the potential of futures markets to improve farmer welfare.