Insurers will use satellite images of vegetation to assess Kenyan farmers’ claims for cattle deaths during drought. In a pilot project due to start in early 2010, the Kenya-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) will analyse freely-available satellite data to observe changes in vegetation in northern Kenya. The technology works by detecting changes in light … Continue reading →

Herders in northern Kenya who suffered large cattle losses during recent droughts are to be offered livestock insurance in a pioneering project that uses satellite imagery of available grazing to determine when payouts occur. The scheme, billed as a world first by the International Livestock Research Institute, is being launched today in the arid Marsabit … Continue reading →

“This is a new approach to tackle an old problem,” Carlos Sere, director general of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), said of the satellite-based insurance for cattle, goats and other animals. Satellite images will measure the greenness of vegetation in the Marsabit area of northern Kenya. A shift to brown will trigger payouts to … Continue reading →

Equity Bank Ltd. and UAP Insurance Ltd. will insure livestock in northern Kenya against starvation and are offering the first African insurance program that will use satellite images to predict drought. The index-based product will initially be sold to herders of camels, cows, goats and sheep in Kenya’s arid Marsabit district, the Nairobi, Kenya-based International … Continue reading →

Livestock farmers in North Eastern Kenya will be compensated against loss of their animals from drought following the launch of an insurance product targeting the sector. The compensation will ensure that pastoralists do not suffer losses when their livestock die from drought, disease or flooding. To be known as Drought Insurance, the Index-Based Livestock Insurance … Continue reading →