The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has extended a financial grant to Mayfair Insurance Zambia to improve its weather-based insurance product line for smallholder farmers in Zambia.

The corporation says the performance-based grant will help meet the insurance needs of up to 400 000 Zambian farmers by December 2019.

“Smallholder farmers in Zambia are vulnerable to weather-related shocks such as drought, flooding, and irregular rainfall. Insurance can be a good risk management tool for these farmers, but the traditional insurance market largely fails to meet their demand for affordable insurance. Index insurance provides an innovative and more efficient solution for them to protect their crops against losses and encourage investment.”

The funding will be disbursed through the Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF), which is a multi-donor that finances smallholder farmers and micro-finance institutions in developing countries.

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