Scaling up the Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) in Ethiopia

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Large parts of Ethiopia are exposed to extreme weather events such as droughts and heavy rainfall, which will become more severe as a result of climate change. The small-scale and subsistence-oriented agricultural sector is particularly affected and small farmers are at high risk of falling into even deeper poverty. While agricultural insurance could be an effective tool for strengthening resilience, the insurance market in Ethiopia is underdeveloped. The FC module Expansion of the Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) in Ethiopia aims to strengthen the resilience of small-scale farming households against the consequences of climate change by (1) providing needs-based, economically and financially sustainable insurance cover against agricultural risks, (2) soil conservation measures, (3) access to microcredits and (4) promoting savings behavior. The project promotes the overarching development policy goal of improving the food security of the rural population in the project region. The holistic risk management approach R4 was originally developed by Oxfam and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and has so far been implemented in the northern regions of Tigray and Amhara. R4 is based on an innovative approach. The insurance product is bundled with the other three components so that interdependence effects on resilience are exploited. The insurance premium can be acquired through work (insurance-for-work (IFW)), so that even poor households without sufficient liquidity can afford insurance cover. A total of EUR 27 million in budget funds from the One World – No Hunger special initiative are available for the FC project.