Agricultural Insurance: Innovations, Policies, and Pathways to Scale

Why It Matters

Scaling effective agricultural insurance could unlock private investment, stabilize rural incomes and make food systems more climate resilient, but achieving impact requires careful policy design, technological deployment and coordination with broader risk-management and development programs.

Summary

IFPRI and Germany’s BMZ convened experts in Washington to assess why agricultural insurance—despite decades of attention—has struggled to scale and how new technologies and product designs could change that. Speakers highlighted innovations such as satellite and picture-based monitoring, index insurance, risk-contingent credit and bundling insurance with input and finance products, alongside better risk analytics and early warning systems. Panelists stressed that well-designed schemes can protect incomes after droughts, floods and storms, reduce distress sales and encourage farmers to invest in productivity and climate-smart practices. Yet uptake remains mixed, and success will depend on integration with broader prevention, adaptation and subsidy-reform policies and on addressing affordability and delivery challenges.