Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI)

As a shock response tool to improve pastoral resilience to drought, SomReP is championing the introduction of Index-Based Disaster Risk Finance, specifically livestock insurance (IBDRF).

SomReP partners with International Livestock Research Institute, Takaful Insurance and federal Ministry of Livestock Rangeland and Forestry to form the Somali Livestock Insurance Consortium (SLIC). The consortium has mobilized national and subnational stakeholders to raise awareness and acceptance for livestock insurance, support feasibility studies and product contextualization processes and catalyze insurance policy development.

The aim of this partnership is to support the government and private sector to establish the institutional framework to enable micro and macro insurance for pastoralists. So far SomReP has signed an MoU and LoA with the Federal Ministry of Livestock, Range and Forestry (MoLRF), Puntland’s Ministry of Livestock and Animal Husbandry (MoLAH), and Southwest State’s Ministry of Livestock, Forestry and Range (MoLFR). SomReP, through World Vision, has also contracted AQN International Law, the only locally and internationally registered Somali law firm, and is currently under the process of developing MoU with Somalia’s largest insurance provider, Takaful Insurance of Africa.

Why IBLI?

  • Pastoralists make up 25% of the Somali population; these are the people who are most vulnerable the extreme droughts, which are becoming more common and longer-lasting due to climate change.

  • The UN estimates that the 2021 drought killed up to 80% of livestock in some parts of Somalia, and the situation is getting worse for pastoralists, who depend entirely on livestock for their livelihood.

  • Traditional insurance mechanisms consider pastoralists too risky so insurance is not typically available, and traditional community support is insufficient in times of drought, where entire communities are strained.

 

Somali language video

Arabic language video

““Hello Radio Ergo, my name is S.F.H. I welcome the livestock insurance programme to save the livestock in dry seasons. We need more insurance companies. Thank you.”

— One of the quotes captured in Radio Ergo feedback report regarding IBLI

Focusing on Impact

A proactive approach helps maximize SomReP’s impact among vulnerable Somali households.