Namibia agriculture disaster risk finance and insurance diagnostic
This diagnostic report was prepared in response to a technical assistance request from the Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) to support the design and implementation of an index-based agriculture insurance program targeting small-scale farmers. Based on initial consultations with the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority (NAMFISA), the nonbank financial regulator and lead counterpart, it was agreed to expand the scope of the diagnostic to include disaster risk finance (DRF), but still with a focus on the agriculture sector. This was done given both GRN’s interest in protecting both group of farmers and the increasing consensus that agriculture insurance programs, particularly those that focus on smallholders, are best designed within a broader framework of DRF.
The article laid out the following next steps:
- Establish a technical working group (TWG) and an action plan to develop a risk-layered DRF strategy;
- Establish regulations for index insurance and for potential aggregations of insurance companies (for example, co-insurance agreements) (short to medium term);
- Plan to test products and roll them out (short to medium term);
- Conduct a review of available risk instruments and their operational procedures and cost drivers.
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