Kilimo Salama initiative awarded

Kilimo Salama, micro-insurance programme won the 2012 Financial Times’/ International Finance Corporation award for Technology in Sustainable Finance at a gala dinner in London’s Landmark Hotel. The index-based insurance cover compensates farmers when they experience produce loss as a result of adverse weather.

Kilimo Salama (Swahili for ‘safe farming’) is a partnership between UAP Insurance Company Ltd and Swiss-based Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture (SFSA).

The program uses individuals’ cell phones and weather stations to provide farmers with affordable and simple insurance on a pay-as-you-plant basis.

 Currently about 64,000 farmers in the country have taken up the cover for next season and plans are underway to expand to other countries in the region beginning with Rwanda.

The awards that are in their 7^th year, attracted this year 161 entries from 145 financial institutions and   36 non-financial groups in 67 countries.

Standard Chartered was named Global Sustainable Bank of the Year while South Africa’s Nedbank was the regional winner of Africa /Middle East.