The SERVIR Eastern and Southern Africa Hub and Science Coordination Office hosted a high-level stakeholder workshop on the Gender-sensitive Agricultural Index-based INSurance (GAIINS) project in Naivasha, Kenya from June 6-10, 2022. The workshop convened the Government of Kenya, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock and Cooperatives (MOALFC), insurance companies, regulatory authorities, financial and enabling partners, and farmers to support the design of gender sensitive index-based insurance products.
Well-developed, Earth Observation informed index-based insurance has been shown to build resilience to climate shocks in the most vulnerable farmers. However, this insurance has never been developed in a gender sensitive or transformative way. This is despite knowing that male and female roles in agriculture in East Africa and globally are very different. Douglas Kangi, the Director of Crops Management on behalf of the Principal Secretary of MOALFC, F.O. Owino, remarked “the government subsidized agriculture insurance programs, which are becoming critical due to climate change, and expected to benefit the most vulnerable farming households, may not meet full intended purpose unless clear strategies are put in place to address gender-sensitive issues affecting the insurance sub-sector.” This event marked the first time these groups had ever been in the same room together to discuss these issues. The event concluded with an acknowledgement and commitment from the stakeholders to start to co-develop gender sensitive products.
