Delivering Index-Based Livestock Insurance through ICT Andrew Mude and Amos Gichamba ICT4ag International Conference, Kigali, Rwanda 4-8 November 2013

The Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) Program IBLI is an award-winning program helping pastoralists of N. Kenya and S. Ethiopia manage the key source of vulnerability they face: drought-related livestock mortality (www.ilri.org/ibli) Index Based Insurance is a new innovation in insurance the avoids the problems that make traditional insurance unprofitable for small, remote clients. The IBLI program commenced with a pilot in Marsabit district in January 2010 and is now offered in 3 counties in Northern Kenya and the Borana Zone of Southern Ethiopia. The deployment of the project involved ILRI as the overall coordinator, and the insurance companies. The local government, religious organizations and different opinion leaders were also involved in mobilization and awareness campaigns.

ICT Value Addition to IBLI The target areas for IBLI – where pastoralists, the key beneficiaries reside – is remote, infrastructure deficient and sparsely populated. In such a context, the provision of a sufficient number of sales touch points, as well as delivering relevant program information and extension messaging is a very costly proposition. ICT infrastructure acts as an enabler in this project, providing a cost-effective sales transaction and information sharing and management platform for this project.

The M-IBLI system

Success Factors A relatively high penetration of mobile technology among the target community. Involvement of all the stakeholders during the design and development of the software. The simplicity in design for the mobile and web platforms Choice of language in the platform. E.g. SMS communication in Swahili Actual tests of the platform by all stakeholders and on the ground before the commencement of insurance sale period

Challenges Poor mobile network coverage in some regions where the project is running Expiry of SMS validity period when the pastoralist is out of network for a long period Shared cost of mobile device being a bit high for most people in the project target areas Mobile devices running out of charge where the agent has to travel for a long distance to get a power source to charge their phone. Some users opting to use manual ways on the ground instead of the system.

Final Thoughts While functionality and execution can improve, the M-IBLI ICT infrastructure drastically reduces the cost of several key service items critical to the sustainability of IBLI provision Inclusion of value addition features on the ICT platform e.g. broadcast information from agricultural officers, connecting farmers with agrovet firms and veterinaries through the platform. The current challenge has been data submission for regions with poor or no mobile network but with mobile network coverage rapidly spreading across the country, the value of the system should increase considerably.