Working Group on Rural Finance Inclusion – French and Spanish Session

Strengthening Rural Resilience Through Agricultural Insurance 

Insights from the 2nd Agri-PDB Platform Rural Financial Inclusion Working Group

25 September 2025| French Session

8 September 2025 | Spanish Session

25 Sept French session   

Introduction 

As climate and market shocks increasingly threaten rural livelihoods, integrating insurance into rural finance has become a priority for development banks. The 2nd session of the Agri-PDB Rural Financial Inclusion Working Group, held on 25 September, 2025, focused on the role of agricultural insurance. 

The session gathered experts from academia, public development banks, insurance providers, and international partners speicalised in agriculture to exchange practical experiences and innovative models that link insurance, credit, and inclusion. 

Setting the Scene 

Opening the session, Olivier Pierard, Climate Finance and Sustainable Agriculture expert, emphasized that agricultural insurance is far more than an add-on—it is a core component of sustainable rural finance. “Insurance enhances food security, stabilizes production and income, and encourages productive investment,” he explained. Drawing on global experience, Pierard presented evidence from Africa and Latin America showing that insured farmers invest more in seeds, fertilizers, and technologies adapted to their local challenges.  

His remarks set the stage for a fundamental question: why should banks integrate insurance into their financial portfolios? 

Lessons from the Field 

Bruno Lepoivre, Director of the Net Zero and Societal Engagement Programme at Pacifica – Crédit Agricole Assurances, offered a perspective from a major French cooperative bank. Drawing on crop insurance in France, he underlined that the development of agricultural insurance builds on public–private partnership and state support. The dual lens of banking and insurance is key to driving agricultural and climate transitions. Lepoivre also highlighted that technology alone is insufficient without field-level human support to build understanding and trust.  

Zeynab Cissé, Business Development Lead at African Risk Capacity Ltd (ARC) highlighted the PACAN Programme—an innovative initiative developed with the West African Development Bank (BOAD) and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW)—which links subsidized loans to climate-adapted investments with parametric insurance that automatically covers debt repayment in the event of a disaster. 

“PACAN combines financing and insurance for comprehensive protection,” Cisse explained. 

Moubarak Moukaila, Director of Sustainable Development Finance at BOAD, reiterated the bank’s commitment to developing innovative financial instruments for rural inclusion. Through its Djoliba strategy, BOAD promotes financial inclusion by expanding innovative tools such as credit lines, guarantees and parametric insurance, linking climate finance with rural credit schemes, and digitalize financial services to serve communities in remote regions. 

Key Takeaways for PDBs 

Across all interventions, an important message stood out: financial inclusion must extend beyond credit. Participants emphasized three areas of action for PDBs to consider: 

• Linking climate finance and insurance unlocks systemic resilience. Coupling climate finance with risk-transfer mechanisms protects investments and stabilize public budgets. Through blended instruments, PDBs can channel adaptation finance directly to rural economies while ensuring long-term resilience. 

• Investing in data, digitalization and capabilities. Mobile platforms and data-based parametric tools lower costs and expand coverage. Strengthen context-specific innovation and frontline advisory to ensure that insurance products are credible, affordable, and understood by farmers. 

• Build public–private partnerships to reach scale. Durable agricultural insurance requires long-term collaboration among governments, PDBs, insurers and reinsurers, which aligns subsidies, data, and delivery. 

Looking Ahead 

The session underscored the value of peer learning and collaboration among PDBs, insurers, and development partners. Stay engaged with the Agri-PDB Platform to access resources, share case studies, and join future Working Group sessions on inclusive rural finance. 

8 Sept Spanish session 

Introduction 

The session explored how agricultural insurance can strengthen financial inclusion and resilience for smallholder farmers facing climate risks. Experts from banking, insurance, and rural finance highlighted that linking timely credit with risk management is essential for sustaining agricultural growth. 

Participants emphasized that agriculture remains a sector of strategic importance: it has the potential to support food self-sufficiency, reduce poverty, and raise incomes. Because many agricultural activities are loosely correlated with other parts of the economy, credit and investment in this sector help diversify risk in financial portfolios. 

Setting the Scene 

The intensifying effects of climate change are increasing the unpredictability of yields and revenue, and this is reshaping how lenders and investors assess agricultural ventures. A major theme was the role of insurance as a buffer and stabilizer. 

Agricultural insurance, when well designed, helps protect farmer incomes against climate shocks without distorting the normal flow of production. In many cases, insurance can function as a more reliable guarantee or collateral alternative where land tenure, mortgage ability, or formal guarantees are weak or imperfect. This helps make credit more accessible and less risky to the lender. 

Lessons from the Field 

The discussion pointed to Colombia’s FINAGRO as a strong example, showing how combining insurance, microcredit, and technical support can effectively reach small producers. By combining subsidized insurance — especially parametric or index-based designs — with microcredit and technical assistance, it has become possible to reach many small producers. 

The growth in beneficiary numbers suggests that the approach can scale, provided it is effectively communicated and trusted. Over time, the inclusion of risk management in investment decisions helps producers internalize climate considerations, turning them into an integral part of planning and production rather than an afterthought. 

Yet several implementation challenges remain. Traditional insurance products often favor larger, better-capitalized farmers; reaching small producers requires product design tailored to their needs. This means pilots, feedback from actual users, technical studies, and continuous adjustments. 

Speed and certainty of indemnity payments are critical: delays erode trust and reduce the perceived value of insurance. Partnerships among insurers, banks, re-insurers, regulators, and producer organizations are essential to reach scale. In some regions, regulatory frameworks lag behind, limiting the use of parametric insurance or limiting insurance as recognized collateral; reforms and policy support are necessary to unlock full potential. 

Technological advances — remote sensing, weather index triggers, data analytics — help reduce costs and improve the accuracy of assessments and payouts, and are central to expanding coverage into more remote and smaller farms. 

Key Takeaways for PDBs 

• Across the discussion, several key messages emerged for public development banks (PDBs): 

• Link credit and risk management: Timely credit and insurance must go together to support agricultural growth and resilience. 

• Tailor product design: Insurance products must be adapted to small producers’ needs through pilots, feedback, and continuous adjustments. 

• Ensure speed and trust: Fast and predictable indemnity payments build credibility and encourage uptake. 

• Strengthen policy and partnerships: Supportive regulatory frameworks and collaboration among insurers, banks, reinsurers, regulators, and producer organizations are crucial. 

• Leverage technology: Remote sensing, weather index triggers, and data analytics help reduce costs and expand coverage. 

Looking Ahead 

In sum, agricultural insurance has a strong potential to boost financial inclusion, especially for smallholder farmers, but only if the product is accessible, credible, affordable, well communicated, timely, and well supported by policy and financial institutions. Participants agreed that scaling such models requires trust, tailored products, faster payouts, supportive policies, and collaboration across financial and regulatory institutions. 

The session highlighted that timely financing and risk management must go hand in hand to sustain agricultural growth in the face of climate variability. Stay engaged with the Agri-PDB Platform to continue exchanging lessons, accessing resources, and joining future Working Group sessions on inclusive rural finance.