Building resilience and empowering Rwandan farmers with agriculture insurance
The agricultural sector in Rwanda accounts for a quarter of the national GDP and plays an essential role in the country’s economy. However, farming is fraught with lots of unpredictability due to adverse weather conditions, pests, and other diseases which can lead to crop failures and significant financial losses. In such scenarios, agriculture insurance emerges as a critical risk management tool, protecting farmers against economic losses and providing a financial safety net. The stability gained through an agriculture insurance cover is vital for the continuous production of food and other agricultural products, thereby ensuring the prosperity of the Rwandan agricultural sector.
Between 2019 – 2022, SCBF supported two projects with Acre Africa one focussing on “Up-scaling of Agricultural Insurance for smallholder farmers in Rwanda” and another on “Financial education of smallholder farmers on Agriculture Insurance” that helped in the upscaling of the product.
Post closure of the projects, in line with SCBF’s requirements, an impact assessment study was done for both projects by independent consultants: (i) to ascertain the effectiveness and reach of ACRE Rwanda’s Agricultural Insurance Initiatives among smallholder farmers and other stakeholders and (ii) to evaluate if the smallholder farmers benefitted from the product education intervention and its subsequent activities.
The assessment reports provide critical insights and learnings paving the way forward for effective expansion and scale up of the product and exploring the transformative potential of financial education in increasing the uptake of insurance products among Rwandan farmers.
For a complete overview of the projects and assessment findings, read the full reports.
Click Here - Upscaling Assessment Report
Click Here - Financial Education Assessment Report
Picture Courtesy: Ilene Perlman’s Images
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