Remote sensing –Beyond images Mexico 14-15 December 2013 The workshop was organized by CIMMYT Global Conservation Agriculture Program (GCAP) and funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the Mexican Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food (SAGARPA), the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), CGIAR Research Program on Maize, the Cereal System Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) and the Sustainable Modernization of the Traditional Agriculture (MasAgro)

1. Laura Johnson
Insurance through RS – December 2013

2. The Challenge
One single bad season affects a farmer for years.
During one drought season, smallholder farmers can loose their entire harvest and
lack the money to buy quality farm inputs the next season.
Traditional agricultural insurance has not been able to protect them as it relies on
farm visits to assess losses.
Large scale farm:
$1000 Premium
- $50 Visit Costs
+ $950, insure
Small scale farm:
vs. - $10 Premium
$50 Visit Costs
- $40, can’t insure
Kilimo Salama approaches insurance as if we were farmers
This is why we use index insurance: a new kind of insurance that helps farmers
cope with climate risks and does not require farm visits.
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3. Overview
 Mandate: Develop and implement agricultural insurance products for
smallholder farmers
 Started in 2009 by Syngenta Foundation in Kenya with 185 maize
farmers
 Kilimo Salama serves as an insurance intermediary doing product
development, contract pricing and monitoring, client interface
 Insured (through local insurance company, reinsurer) over 150,000
smallholder farmers in 2013 in Kenya and Rwanda, soon to launch in
Tanzania
 Main product - drought insurance linked to agricultural credit by MFI
used for fertilizer and improved seed
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4. Weather Index
 Measurements done using weather stations and/or satellites, linked to
agronomic formulas to model required rainfall
 Pricing based on historical rainfall data – now through satellites
 Our rule of thumb is ‘We don’t visit the farm’
 Covers risk of Drought, Excess rain and/or Weather-related disease - all
defined through a weather index
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5. Need for Remote Sensing
 Initially used network of 100 SFSA
automated weather stations (AWS)
 No/unreliable historical daily rainfall data in
expansion countries
 Expensive to install/maintain
Investigating Remote Sensing:
 Partner with Columbia University’s Earth
Institute (IRI) since January 2012
 Analyse correlation between AWS and
Satellite Rainfall Estimates , selecting ARC2
 Rainfall estimates based on reflected EM
radiation and cloud temperatures

6. Comparing Satellite Rainfall Estimations with AWS
Data In Western Kenya
 Extensive ground proofing and dry
runs for new crops, in new
geographies
 Continuous improvement of indexes
 Investigating new satellites and data
sources
 Strong correlation for drought after
1+ year of work
Slide from IRI
miles
km
100
200

7. www.syngentafoundation.org
laura@kilimosalama.com
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