Drought / East Africa / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Of cell phones, satellites and livestock insurance in Kenya’s Chalbi Desert

ILRI’s Brenda Wandera and Andrew Mude at the launch of the Kenya Government’s ‘Open Data Web Portal’ on 8 Jul 2011 (photo credit: ILRI/Muthoni Njiru). Brenda Wandera, who helps manage an Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project conducted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), and her boss, Andrew Mude, are the focus of an in-depth magazine … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Vulnerability

To insure or not to insure: That is the question for Kenyan herders restocking after the great drought of 2011

The first payouts for livestock insurance being made in Marsabit District, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). From Reuters AlertNet comes this update on how the livestock herders of Kenya’s Marsabit District are faring. Some bought an innovative livestock insurance product this year that is being piloted by the International Livestock Research … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

New insurance program in Kenya covers cattle lost to drought

A blind pastoral herder in Kenya’s Marsabit District awaits payout of an insurance premium he bought to protect his livestock against drought (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). Tristan McConnell, reporting from Nairobi, writes in the GlobalPost (Boston) yesterday of a new insurance program set up to protect a group of pastoral livestock herders in … Continue reading