Scaling up index insurance for smallholder farmers: Recent evidence and insights

This report explores evidence and insights from five case studies that have made significant recent progress in addressing the challenge of insuring poor smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the developing world. In India, national index insurance programmes have reached over 30 million farmers through a mandatory link with agricultural credit and strong government support. In East Africa (Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania), the Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise (ACRE) has recently scaled to reach nearly 200,000 farmers, bundling index insurance with agricultural credit and farm inputs. ACRE has built on strong partnerships with regional initiatives such as M-PESA mobile banking. In Ethiopia and Senegal, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative has scaled unsubsidized index insurance to over 20,000 poor smallholder farmers who were previously considered uninsurable, using insurance as an integral part of a comprehensive risk management portfolio. With strong public and private sector support, the Mongolia Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project (IBLIP) insures more than 15,000 nomadic herders and links commercial insurance with a government disaster safety net. Finally, the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project in Kenya and Ethiopia demonstrates innovative approaches to insuring poor nomadic pastoralists in challenging circumstances. A few common features appear to have contributed to recent progress within these case studies: explicitly targeting obstacles to improving farmer income; integration of insurance with other development interventions; giving farmers a voice in the design of products; investing in local capacity; and investing in science-based index development. Evidence from these case studies can inform the ongoing debate about the viability of scaling up index-based insurance for vulnerable smallholder farmers in the developing world. The rapid progress observed in recent years suggests that index insurance has the potential to benefit smallholder farmers at a meaningful scale, and suggests the need to reassess arguments that lack of demand and practical implementation challenges prevent index-based insurance from being a useful tool to reduce rural poverty

Index insurance and climate risk management: addressing social equity

Motivation Fair distribution of benefits from index insurance matters. Lack of attention to social equity can reinforce inequalities and undermine the potential index insurance holds as a tool for climate risk management that is also pro-poor. Purpose The aims are to: (i) examine social equity concerns raised by index insurance in the context of climate risk management; (ii) consider how greater attention can be given to social equity in index insurance initiatives; and (iii) reflect on the policy challenges raised by seeking to take social equity into account as a mechanism for climate risk reduction. Approach and methods The article draws on learning from the CGIAR’s Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) and presents the cases of the Index Based Livelihoods Insurance (IBLI) and Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise Ltd. (ACRE) in East Africa. It proposes a framework for unpacking social equity related to equitable access, procedures, representation and distribution within index insurance schemes Findings Systematically addressing social equity raises hard policy choices for index insurance initiatives without straightforward solutions. Attention to how benefits and burdens of index insurance are distributed raises the unpalateable truth for development policy that the poorest members of rural society can be excluded. Nevertheless, a focus on social equity may open up opportunities to ensure index insurance is linked to more socially just climate risk management. At the very least, it may prevent index insurance from generating greater inequality. Taking social equity into account thus, shifts the focus from agricultural systems in transition per se to systems with potential to incorporate societal transformation through distributive justice. Policy implications A framework is presented for unpacking different dimensions of social equity in index insurance schemes. It is intended to facilitate identification of opportunities for building outcomes that are more equitable, with greater potential for inclusion and fairer distribution

On Predicting Mössbauer Parameters of Iron-Containing Molecules with Density-Functional Theory

The performance of six frequently used density functional theory (DFT) methods (RPBE, OLYP, TPSS, B3LYP, B3LYP*, and TPSSh) in the prediction of Mössbauer isomer shifts(δ) and quadrupole splittings (ΔEQ) is studied for an extended and diverse set of Fe complexes. In addition to the influence of the applied density functional and the type of the basis set, the effect of the environment of the molecule, approximated with the conducting-like screening solvation model (COSMO) on the computed Mössbauer parameters, is also investigated. For the isomer shifts the COSMO-B3LYP method is found to provide accurate δ values for all 66 investigated complexes, with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.05 mm s–1 and a maximum deviation of 0.12 mm s–1. Obtaining accurate ΔEQ values presents a bigger challenge; however, with the selection of an appropriate DFT method, a reasonable agreement can be achieved between experiment and theory. Identifying the various chemical classes of compounds that need different treatment allowed us to construct a recipe for ΔEQ calculations; the application of this approach yields a MAE of 0.12 mm s–1 (7% error) and a maximum deviation of 0.55 mm s–1 (17% error). This accuracy should be sufficient for most chemical problems that concern Fe complexes. Furthermore, the reliability of the DFT approach is verified by extending the investigation to chemically relevant case studies which include geometric isomerism, phase transitions induced by variations of the electronic structure (e.g., spin crossover and inversion of the orbital ground state), and the description of electronically degenerate triplet and quintet states. Finally, the immense and often unexploited potential of utilizing the sign of the ΔEQ in characterizing distortions or in identifying the appropriate electronic state at the assignment of the spectral lines is also shown

Traumatic grief in young people in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review

Holly Taggart,1 Sheila Greatrex-White,2 1Mental Health Commission, CentreForum, Westminster, UK; 2School of Health Sciences, Queen's Medical Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK Aim: To identify relevant and pertinent themes and interventions within the literature relating to childhood traumatic grief, in order to provide a sound background of evidence for further research and service development. Background: Childhood traumatic grief is caused when a significant person in a child's life dies under circumstances that they perceive to be traumatic. This can leave a child unable to return to the same level of physical and emotional functioning that he or she had prior to the death occurring. In Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an increased risk for childhood traumatic grief due to a high prevalence of orphanhood, environmental stressors, stigma, and abuse. This can have detrimental effects upon mental health. Methods: The review followed the York methodology: identifying the purpose and agreeing on the strategy beforehand; identifying relevant sources/studies; selecting the studies; charting the data; and collating, summarizing, and reporting results. Results and discussion: Interventions identified to prevent and/or manage traumatic grief included narrative exposure therapy, psychotherapy, mentoring, peer-group support, psychosocial support, a grief and loss therapy session, and memory boxes. Mental health remains neglected within service and policy development as well as in global health spending. The average amount expended on mental health services per person per year in low-income countries is less than $0.25. Only 36% of people in low income countries are covered by a mental health policy, compared with 92% in high income countries. Limitations: The sixth stage of the York methodology was omitted. Only papers written in English were included in the review. Conclusion: Childhood traumatic grief in young people is an important issue within Sub-Saharan Africa and has relevance to the global mental health agenda. Implications for nursing and health policy: With the HIV/AIDS pandemic continuing to threaten and the number of orphans estimated to rise, a number of recommendations developed from the literature are suggested. Keywords: childhood traumatic grief, HIV/AIDS, interventions, mental health, orphans, scoping review, Sub-Saharan Africa, young peopl

The blue kitten.

Gift of Dr. Mary Jane Esplen.Piano vocal [instrumentation]B flat major [key]Allegretto [tempo]Popular song [form/genre]Photograph of W. H. Berry [illustration]Lyrics on back inside cover [note]Publisher's advertisement on front inside cover and back cover [note

Breakfast in bed

Gift of Dr. Mary Jane Esplen.Piano vocal [instrumentation]G major [key]Allegretto [tempo]Popular song ; novelty song [form/genre]Photo: W. H. Berry [illustration]Lyrics on back inside cover [note]Publisher's advertisement on front inside cover & back cover [note

New Directions in Australian Essential Oil Research: Chemistry, Chemotypology and Chemotaxonomy; The Three C Essentials (O-1)

We have initiated several investigations of essential oils from a variety of native Australian plant species aimed at examining the extent and aetiology of essential oil chemovariation. Chemical fingerprints thus derived have been used to complement taxonomic studies aimed at re-evaluating existing species classifications. For example, using relative fluorescence in flow cytometry, significant observed chemotypic variation of 'Eremophila longifolia' has been shown to be consistent with two separate ploidy types; potentially warranting revision of the species. In another example, using NMR and GC-MS to identify some unusual and uncommon essential oil compounds in species of the genus 'Phebalium', we have uncovered a number of taxonomic discrepancies, hitherto suspected but unconfirmed. In particular, dihydrotagetone (2,6-dimethyloct-7-en-4-one) is an omnipresent characteristic of the 'Phebalium glandulosum' subspecies complex; hence other species expressing dihydrotagetone were further examined for morphological characteristics consistent with the 'P. glandulosum' group. Another unusual essential oil ketone, the sesquiterpene squamulosone, was found to be an important complement to taxonomic studies aimed at revising the 'P. squamulosum' subspecies complex. Furthermore, investigation of sesquiterpenoid essential oils from 'Prostanthera' species has uncovered a number of unusual and novel compounds that may also complement future taxonomic studies. Other species, such as those belonging to the genus 'Zieria' and 'Geijera', have also recently been investigated and we shall report on the taxonomic implications of our results and the overall contribution of chemical analysis to a contemporary understanding of the Australian taxa

Composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oils from the 'Phebalium squamulosum' species complex (Rutaceae) in New South Wales, Australia

Essential oils have been hydrodistilled and characterized from 21 populations of taxa currently assigned to the endemic Australian species 'Phebalium squamulosum' (Rutaceae: Boronieae) using GC-MS, NMR and quantified using GC-FID. Essential oils were further examined using principle component analysis to distinguish chemotypes, then screened for antimicrobial activity using broth dilution and TLC-bioautography. Collections of subspecies of 'P. squamulosum', namely subsp. 'coriaceum', subsp. 'gracile', subsp. 'lineare', subsp. 'squamulosum', subsp. 'ozothamnoides' and subsp. 'verrucosum', were made from the wild and one from a cultivated plant of known provenance within New South Wales. Results demonstrated considerable intra- and interspecific essential oil component variation, suggesting the existence of distinct chemotypes and supporting previously observed segregate species based on morphological evidence. Antimicrobial testing revealed moderate to high activity for all essential oils dominated by sesquiterpene alcohols; elemol and eudesmol isomers. Conversely, very low antimicrobial activity was observed from essential oils dominated by monoterpenes. This study constitutes the most exhaustive investigation of essential oils from 'P. squamulosum' subspecies to date and provides the first report of antimicrobial activity

Managing drought risk in Africa

• The vulnerability of farmers to climate related risk is reduced if they can access insurance • Weather index insurance (WII) compensates farmers if a weather index is breached rather than for a proven loss. WII is cheap to administer and could potentially cover millions of farmers in Africa against the effects of drought. • Insured weather metrics are only proxies for agricultural losses, meaning that there is the potential for unfair payouts and uncompensated losses if the index is inaccurate or does not reflect the land surface conditions • The TAMSAT group has worked closely with insurers in Africa to design robust WII schemes.</p