Farming is a mainstay of the Kenyaneconomy, representing three quarters of employment in thecountry. Nearly half of all farming output in the country isfor subsistence purposes. Therefore, many farmers livelihoods are entirely dependent on their harvests, bothfor the income generated by selling crops and for feedingtheir families. Unfortunately, there is little certainty insubsistence farming since the size of the harvest is largelydetermined by the timing and amount of rainfall. Theobjective of this case study is to describe the design andimplementation of an index-based agricultural insuranceproduct targeting rural farmers in Kenya. The Kilimo Salama(Safe Agriculture in Kiswahili) product has been successfulin protecting farmers against risks from drought orexcessive rainfall, both of which can have disastrouseffects on the harvest. The following sections presentweather-related risks affecting farmers, the steps taken toaddress these problems by designing a new insurance product,the product development and implementation process, and theimpact of this new product thus far. Beyond the focus onproduct design, this case also discusses lessons learnedsince the product's launch, how the product is expected toevolve in future versions, and scalability.
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