Humanitarian agencies are setting up innovative climate risk insurance policies to protect up to 1.3 million people in West Africa from catastrophic drought. The countries benefitting include Senegal, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and the Gambia.
These policies will unleash funds to assist vulnerable communities threatened by drought before it reaches catastrophic levels. Collectively, the purchased policies could release a total of US$ 49.5 million across the five countries. The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Start Network have purchased these “replica” climate risk insurance policies from the African Union’s Africa Risk Capacity (ARC), complementing those purchased by national governments.
This initiative, which is known under the name ‘ARC Replica’ allows governments and humanitarian agencies to quickly access and channel financing to vulnerable people in the event of an extreme drought.
WFP Country Director, Silvia Caruso, explains: “ARC Replica is strengthening the insurance coverage offered by ARC by increasing the sum insured for Mali. This increases the number of people that will benefit from a payout in the case of a major drought.”
This financing helps to protect livestock and other assets, and to supplement feeding programs for undernourished children. To ensure assistance reaches people in need quickly, Start Network and WFP have worked with each insured country to identify how resources and assistance can most efficiently be delivered.
KfW Development Bank project manager, Veronika Bertram-Hümme, says: “Many developing countries face the risk of disasters without being sufficiently prepared for them. When a disaster strikes, humanitarian organisations often respond too late, leaving affected populations vulnerable to further risk.
We are very pleased to finance ARC Replica and work with the Start Network and the WFP to improve national preparedness and risk management efforts which ultimately allow us to help people affected by drought in West Africa and the Sahel."
Through ARC Replica, the Start Network and WFP accompany governments in improving risk management practices, working collaboratively to strengthen safety nets and climate protection to vulnerable populations.
Mr. Abdoulaye Noba, Director of Civil Protection, Supervisor of the ARC Programme in Senegal, says: "ARC Replica is an innovative project that enables ARC Member States and humanitarian partners to respond more effectively to disaster risks through funding mechanisms such as insurance."
ARC and ARC Replica use pre-agreed triggers such as rainfall satellite data which allow for rapid response involving pre-agreed activities such as cash transfers and the distribution of food and nutrition supplements. The aim is to avoid situations where families take children out of school, migrate or sell livestock and seeds before the next agricultural season.
Anna Farina, Risk Financing Operations Lead at Start Network says: " We will keep working closely with the Government of Senegal, Start Network members in country and their partners to ensure that if a drought is detected, funds become available promptly to deliver support to vulnerable people."
Pay-outs are made as early as two weeks after a failed harvest – months earlier than traditional humanitarian resources are made available. Typically, aid agencies are reliant on funding that gets provided by donors after a crisis has already taken place.
By the time a crisis has been determined and humanitarian appeals have been formulated, many lives and livelihoods can be lost.
Read more about the African Risk Capacity Replica Programme.