Addis Ababa, 26 March 2026 – A new Knowledge to Action Accelerator Programme (KAAP) has been launched to help close the gap between strategy and implementation in Ethiopia’s agricultural insurance sector.

Managed by UNDP KAAP will initially be implemented for one year to serve as a national delivery mechanism to build local expertise in product design, risk modelling, pricing, data management, and claims calculation for agricultural insurance.

The programme is designed as a practical, hands-on accelerator that will equip technical champions from the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Association of Ethiopian Insurers (AEI) member institutions, and strategic partners with the skills to design, test, and refine insurance products across the full agricultural cycle. This includes applied work on Area Yield Index Insurance and Weather Index Insurance, with prototype development linked to selected woredas in the Amhara, Oromia, and Tigray regions.

The KAAP announcement was made at a CEO Forum organized by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Association of Ethiopian Insurers (AEI).

The CEO Forum brought together industry leaders interested in agricultural risk and insurance to explore a coordinated delivery model for scaling agricultural insurance as part of Ethiopia’s wider resilience, food security, and financial inclusion agenda. The event also spotlighted emerging partnerships focused on practical tools, technical support, and a shared roadmap for developing Ethiopia’s agricultural insurance market.

The event concluded with two other major announcements:

1. Establishment of a multipurpose risk-sharing platform: Hosted by the AEI, the new platform will strengthen data and analytics, enhance coordination among market players, and support access to broader reinsurance and risk-pooling solutions. The platform provides a structured mechanism for collaboration, enabling product innovation, harmonized market development, and stronger engagement with reinsurers and other stakeholders. It aims to give the agricultural insurance market a unified and technically sound foundation for developing commercially viable products.

2. Launch of an Actuarial Capacity Fund: This initiative will establish a national actuarial capacity pathway, including scholarships and talent development support, to reduce reliance on external expertise and foster a sustainable pipeline of Ethiopian actuarial professionals. The scholarship programme, managed by the UNDP–Milliman Global Actuarial Initiative (GAIN) will run for two years with an initial USD 50,000 contribution from BMZ and UNDP core partners[1]. This investment responds to a critical skills gap that has constrained agricultural insurance growth in Ethiopia. By strengthening professional actuarial training and embedding expertise within national institutions, the initiative aims to support pricing accuracy, regulatory oversight, product innovation, and long-term market sustainability.

Beyond the individual announcements, the CEO Forum is expected to reinforce executive-level leadership and coordination of the agricultural insurance agenda, strengthen technical collaboration between public and private stakeholders, and create a higher-level platform for policy dialogue on barriers that continue to limit scale.

Background

Ethiopia’s agriculture sector is highly vulnerable to climate-related shocks, while national insurance penetration remains below 0.4 percent. At the same time, agriculture accounts for roughly 32 percent of GDP, making risk financing and agricultural insurance essential not only for farmers and agribusinesses, but also for overall economic stability. The tripartite partnership responds to this challenge by aligning government leadership, insurance industry participation, and international technical support within a common framework for scale.

Under this partnership, the Ministry of Agriculture, through its Rural Finance Service Unit (RFSU), provides national coordination and policy leadership. AEI mobilizes the insurance industry and supports implementation through its member companies. UNDP, through its Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF), contributes technical expertise, global good practice, and catalytic support for innovation. Together, the three institutions aim to move agricultural insurance beyond fragmented pilots toward a coordinated, institutionalized market system.

About the Partnership

The tripartite partnership between the Ministry of Agriculture, the Association of Ethiopian Insurers, and UNDP was established on 12 November 2025 to strengthen agricultural risk financing in Ethiopia through market development, institutional capacity building, and coordinated public-private action. The tripartite partnership between the MoA, UNDP, and AEI is supported through funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

[1] Core resources from our partners allow UNDP flexible and rapid responses to development needs. https://www.undp.org/funding/regular-resources-contributors