Mali farmers get $160,000 payouts after yields hit by drought and flooding

By Henry Gale

April 14 - (The Insurer) - More than 7,000 farmers in Mali have received payouts totalling $160,000 under a parametric insurance pilot scheme, agricultural insurtech Pula said in a LinkedIn post on Saturday.

The payments to 7,452 farmers affected by lower yields will help them reinvest in the 2025 growing season, Pula said. The insurance program, designed and implemented by the insurtech, uses a combination of satellite, historical and on-the-ground data to determine local yields and trigger payouts.

The initiative also involves Mali's ministry of agriculture and food security commission; insurer AFG; impact investor BlueOrchard; the InsuResilience Solutions Fund, and non-profit Agra. Piloted in 2024, it aims to reach 115,000 farmers by 2027.

Crop production in Mali was negatively affected by below-average rainfall between May and June last year, usually the start of the country's rainy season, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation said in November. Heavy rains between July and October then triggered flooding and also caused crop losses, the agency added.