Co-authored by Jameel Research lead Nathan Jensen, this book outlines the origins and evolution of an international award-winning development intervention, index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), which scaled from a small pilot project in Kenya to a design that underpins drought risk management products and policies across Africa.
Index-based livestock insurance (IBLI) was conceived, launched, studied, and adapted within the context of the longstanding struggle to understand and reduce persistent poverty in the arid and semiarid lands (ASALs) of East Africa.
This region is characterized by widespread, deep, persistent poverty among populations routinely buffeted by a range of potentially catastrophic shocks. ASALs cover roughly one-third of the Earth’s land surface, and host over one billion people, who commonly are pastoralists whose livelihoods predominantly rely on livestock production, often involving extensive grazing on communal lands, whereby seasonal movement in search of forage and water is important.
Livestock are pastoralists’ main store of wealth; a productive asset that generates a plurality of community income and consumption goods, offers social status, and underpins many cultural rituals. Livestock are pastoralists’ main nonhuman productive asset and the production technologies involved in extensive grazing are few.
This Book outlines the origins and evolution of index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), which scaled from a small pilot project in Kenya to a design that underpins drought risk management products and policies across Africa.
General insights are provided on i) the economics of poverty, risk management, and drylands development; ii) the evolving use of modern remote sensing and data science tools in development; iii) the science of scaling; and iv) the value and challenges of integrating research with operational implementation to tackle development and humanitarian challenges in some of the world’s poorest regions.
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Read the book: Jensen, Nathaniel D. et al. 2024. Escaping Poverty Traps and Unlocking Prosperity in the Face of Climate Risk: Lessons from Index-Based Livestock Insurance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009558280