A regional approach to drought index-insurance in Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries—Operational and technical feasibility assessment
Executive summary
This report assesses the operational and technical feasibility of a regional index-based livestock insurance
(IBLI) program for pastoralists located in the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) region.1 This
desk study has been prepared by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) under the Drought Index-insurance
for Resilience in the Sahel and Horn of Africa (DIRISHA) research program. The work has been supported by the United
Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).
The problem
Pastoralists are a key population group and economic factor in the Greater Horn of Africa. In the eight IGAD
countries, up to one fifth of the total population – or 50 million people – is made up of pastoralists or agro-pastoralists.
Their main source of livelihood is the rearing of livestock, mostly in open grazing rangelands in semi-arid areas. In most
IGAD countries, livestock contributes more than one third of agricultural gross domestic product
(GDP) and in Djibouti and Somalia more than 80% of agricultural GDP. Pastoralism is the main source of meat and milk
products in most IGAD countries.
However, pastoralists suffer from widespread poverty and are severely exposed and vulnerable to recurrent
droughts. Pastoralists belong to the poorest segments of society in the IGAD countries. Their resilience to droughts is
low and their exposure high. In severe drought years, millions of head of livestock die from starvation due to depleted
forage, diseases and lack of water, pushing millions of people into food insecurity. As severe droughts rise in frequency
and severity across the region, pastoralists find themselves in a poverty trap.Citation
Lung, F., Stutley, C., Kahiu, N., Vrieling, A., Zewdie, Y. and Fava, F. 2021. A regional approach to drought index-insurance in Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) countries—Operational and technical feasibility assessment. ILRI Research Report 75. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.
