Using Satellite Date to Scale Smallholder Agricultural Insurance

Research shows that agriculture insurance can help smallholder families become more resilient. It allows families to better manage risks, invest more confidently in their diverse livelihoods, and increase productivity. However, despite significant progress in offering smallholder agricultural insurance, scale remains difficult in many parts of the world, especially in Africa. Increasingly, satellite data are being explored to drive further innovation in smallholder agricultural insurance, as illustrated by a CGAP and Pula collaboration in Nigeria and Kenya. This Brief shares lessons from this collaboration and suggests a practical way that satellite data can be used to significantly reduce delivery costs of area-yield index insurance offered to smallholder families in Africa.