Background facts Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF)
Funded by the European Union and the governments of Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands, GIIF has facilitated a total of about 8 million contracts since 2010, with 1.5 billion US dollars in sums insured, covering more than 40 million people, primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
GIIF supports the expansion of index-based agricultural insurance to protect poor and vulnerable people against extreme weather events. It facilitates access to finance for smallholder farmers, micro-entrepreneurs and microfinance institutions through the provision of disaster risk transfer solutions and index-based insurance.
GIIF's strategy for building index insurance markets is based on a comprehensive approach:
- Financial education. Public education on, and media promotion of, index insurance for farmers, small businesses, microfinance institutions, banks, distributors, and other interested parties.
- Capacity building and subsidies based on grants to research institutions, brokers, and NGOs to support training of local insurers and financial institutions and the implementation of feasibility studies.
- Technical advice on products and pricing from GIIF technical specialists and partners.
- Public policy dialogue at national and regional levels to improve the regulatory environment; establishment of the preconditions necessary to launch agricultural index-based insurance products.