On May 11, 2022, VoxDev featured MRR principal investigator Paswel Marenya on the VoxDevTalk podcast to discuss the impacts of pairing stress-tolerant maize with index insurance.

While bundling drought-tolerant maize with index insurance generated significant drought resilience for small-scale farmers, seed and insurance companies need continued support to scale the product, particularly where farmers have little experience with either improved seeds or insurance.

Humanitarian efforts in central Mozambique have saved lives and helped families to begin their recovery from losses to cyclone Idai, but many challenges remain. Research on a similar disaster in Honduras two decades ago suggests that long-term support is likely necessary for families who already struggled before the storm.

AMA Innovation Lab researchers say losses from cyclone Idai in March, 2019 will have a lasting impact throughout Mozambique after the immediate relief effort has ended, particularly for those who rely on agriculture.

A Feed the Future AMA Innovation Lab pilot project in Tanzania that pairs drought-tolerant hybrid maize with insurance has found early success with adoption and in-kind payouts.

Small-scale farmers in developing economies worldwide may soon have better financial tools to manage the risk of drought with a new AMA Innovation Lab project using ultra-high resolution satellite data.