In a major step towards securing the future of African agriculture, the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has launched the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation (ACRIFA).
The $1 billion initiative aimed at providing vital insurance coverage to over 40 million farmers across the continent, protecting them from the devastating impacts of climate change.
“We have to support farmers, not abandon them, in the face of rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like drought, floods and pest infestation. We need to ensure that farmers and actors along the agricultural value chain are covered by insurance at scale,” Akinwumi Adesina, AfBD president said.
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ACRIFA will mobilise $1 billion through grants, high-risk capital, and concessional financing, directly supporting the African insurance industry.
The facility is designed to protect farmers and countries against catastrophic weather-related events and to stimulate private-sector investment in agriculture by mitigating risks.
Adesina noted that over 97 percent of farmers in Africa do not have agricultural insurance. “Their only insurance is to pray… when they plant that it will rain. Pray when they harvest that there will not be rains or pest devastation and pray when they market their crops that prices will not collapse.”
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“The eyes of more than 40 million smallholder farmers in Africa are on us. Let us make ACRIFA the answer to their prayers,” he said.
Adesina said ACRIFA “will systematically support the African insurance industry to unlock financing for investments in climate-smart and green technologies.”
“It will strengthen local insurers and foster integration with national and international reinsurers,” he added
