Written by Harriet KimIn 2012, the IFAD-WFP Weather Risk Management Facility (WRMF) launched an innovative project to develop satellite-based solutions for index insurance to benefit smallholder farmers. On the 1st and 2nd December 2014, key experts and leading institutions from the project’s Evaluation Committee were invited to come together for the first time. The two-day workshop provided a platform for productive discussion on the main findings from the project so far, challenges, opportunities, and next steps.
IFAD-WFP Weather Risk
Management Facility and project objectives:
WRMF began in 2008 to
conduct research, build capacity, and implement initiatives to improve risk
management innovations to foster agricultural development and enhance
resilience against production risks, including climate shocks.
Index insurance is a
particular risk management tool that can play a part in a holistic approach for
smallholder farmers in agricultural development, food security, and disaster
risk management interventions.
The AFD funded project –
remote sensing for index insurance, running until 2016 - is trying to find
solutions to one of the main constraints identified in index insurance: the
lack of good quality, on-the-ground weather and yield data. Insufficient data
results in poor product quality; consequently, farmers risk not being compensated
for losses, increasing their vulnerability and causing them to lose trust in
the insurance sector. Historical
and near real time data are necessary to construct the index, design and price
the product, and understand when it is triggered and compensation should be
paid. Consequently, the project focuses on remote sensing innovations for capturing
yield loss that could then be used in insurance schemes that best fit the
specific micro-level needs of smallholder farmers. 
Three different types of remote sensing innovations are being developed, tested, validated and evaluated in the project:
1.
Index
insurance products which capture yield loss, are being tested based
on a range of different approaches from those based on vegetation indices, to
estimations of evapotranspiration, soil moisture, or rainfall.
2.
Crop
maps created from radar satellite imagery are being developed
to try and distinguish homogenous crop areas and growth patterns, as well as identify
different crops in smallholder areas.
Start of season indicators are being used as a
first indicator for crop development success or failure to monitor crop yields
and vegetation.Based in Senegal, there are four geographic areas of focus for the project which differ in rainfall pattern, levels of agricultural production, and risk profile. The remote sensing partners develop an index for the key smallholder crops (maize, groundnut and millet) in each area of operation. At the same time, ground monitoring of crops is undertaken to validate accuracy and build a more detailed picture about the risks and constraints faced by the smallholders.
Partners in the WRMF project:
The project unites a wide
range of different actors working in remote sensing, index insurance, aid and
development, and agricultural research to develop, test, validate, and evaluate
the remotely-sensed indexes and other products developed. Project partners include:
Remote
sensing: VITO, together with EARS, FEWS NET, GeoVille, IRI for Climate and Society, ITC – University
of Twente, and sarmap;
Crop
monitoring: ISRA together with experts from CIRAD and CERAAS;
Project evaluation
committee: reinsurers (Munich Re and Swiss Re), space agencies
(NASA, Italian Space Agency - ASI, European Space Agency), index insurance
actors (GIIF, I4, PlaNet Guarantee), in-country experts (CSE, CIRAD/CERAAS,
ISRA), and remote sensing experts (FAO, JRC, WFP, Technical University of
Denmark).