Weather index insurance underwrites a weather risk, typically highly correlated with agricultural production losses, as a proxy for economic loss and is gaining popularity in lower income countries. This instrument, although subject to basis risk and high start-up costs, should reduce costs over...

This paper describes the index-based livestock insurance program in Mongolia designed in the context of a World Bank lending operation with Government of Mongolia and implemented on a pilot basis in 2005. This program involves a combination of self-insurance by herders, market-based insurance,...

While significant progress in microcredit and microfinance has been made in low‐income countries, lending for small farming enterprises has been limited. This article reviews how innovative index‐based risk‐transfer products (IBRTPs) can be used to transfer the correlated natural disaster...

This article considers the potential for securitizing index‐based insurance products that transfer weather and natural disaster risks from lower income countries. It begins with a brief overview explaining why markets for natural disaster risks are important, yet often missing, in lower income...

This article considers the potential for securitizing index-based insurance products that transfer weather and natural disaster risks from lower income countries. It begins with a brief overview explaining why markets for natural disaster risks are important, yet often missing, in lower income...

While significant progress in microcredit and microfinance has been made in low-income countries, lending for small farming enterprises has been limited. This article reviews how innovative index-based risk-transfer products (IBRTPs) can be used to transfer the correlated natural disaster risks...

Summary A growing literature suggests that in low-income countries, households with few assets can be trapped in chronic poverty. This article reviews relevant threads of the poverty traps literature to motivate a description of the opportunities presented by innovative index-based risk transfer...