WorldCover raises Ksh607 million to insure farmers from effects of climate change

New York based Climate insurance provider WorldCover has raised Ksh. 607 million to insure small scale farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana against the effects of climate change.

Farmers will be able to sign up for the cover by creating an account on WorldCover’s Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) mobile app. They will then be able to determine the amount of insurance they would like to buy after indicating the crop they are cultivating and the region they farm in.

According to Jason Schapiro WorldCover’s Lead Engineer, in a news report by the Business Daily, the cash will be rolled out immediately and it will be used to insure farmers against the devastating effects of erratic weather and climate change.

“Our algorithms are specifically calibrated to rainfall events by region and crop type, automatically triggering instant payouts to insured farmers through mobile money services like M-Pesa,” said Mr. Schapiro in the Business Daily report.

The insurance provider proceeded to vouch for the viability of the scheme by revealing that the firm made payouts to Kenyan farmers in February due to erratic weather which led to yields falling by 70 percent. According to the firm nearly three in four farmers on the platform successfully awarded a claim because of using the platform.

WorldCover’s CEO and Co-Founder Christopher Sheehan, in the Business Daily report, similarly revealed that the deal will augment the earnings farmers make from agriculture in the aforementioned countries while expanding the cover provider’s continental footprint.

 “With the rise of many insuretech startups around the world, we are excited about this successful round of funding as it enables us to accelerate growth in existing markets while working towards expansion into new regions,” Mr. Sheehan is quoted as saying by the Business Daily.

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