Bayer and Pula to provide insurance coverage for 10 million smallholder farmers

Bayer Foundation and the Pula Foundation have partnered to provide insurance coverage for 10 million smallholder farmers by 2030.

The two aims to enhance climate resilience among smallholder farmers, protecting them against the growing impacts of droughts and floods, which threaten harvests, livelihoods, and global food security. It will help build private-public collaborations and shape the insurance market for agriculture in Africa and Asia.

According to Matthias Berninger, Executive Vice President Public Affairs, Science and Sustainability at Bayer and Member of the Board of Trustees at Bayer Foundation, “Smallholder farmers are already affected heavily by the impacts of climate change, and this will get worse going forward. It is crucial that we enable them to feed their communities and contribute to global food security,”

The Pula Foundation has developed scalable and data-driven agricultural insurance solutions designed to safeguard smallholder farmers’ investments in their farms. By mitigating risks associated with extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, the Pula Foundation ensures that farmers receive financial compensation for yield losses, enabling them to recover, reinvest, and build long-term resilience in the face of climate uncertainty.

By 2030, Pula grant for insurance premium support in the amount of 10 million euros – supported by a donation from Bayer’s Crop Science Division – will unlock a potential insurance coverage of 127 million U.S. dollars for 10 million farmers working with national governments in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Mali. This grants originates from our Social Innovation Ecosystem Fund which targets mature and high-impact solutions for underserved communities. 

In 2021, Pula Foundation and Bayer Foundation together with the Zimbabwean Government and as part of the Zimbabwean Conservation Agriculture Program, developed an insurance solution that insured 31,000 farmers against climate risks such as droughts. The partnership was scaled to more than 1 million farmers after three years. 

According to FAO, in 2023, around 2.33 billion people globally faced moderate or severe food insecurity. Smallholder farmers make a significant contribution to food security and supply in their countries: more than half of the food consumed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is produced by smallholders. Yet, they face heavy challenges that pose severe constraints to their ability to serve their communities. Examples are lack of climate change adaptation tools, lack of access to agricultural inputs and inadequate credit and insurance services. 

“Climate resilience is not just about recovery but also about dignity and empowerment. We believe that insurance enables smallholder farmers to prepare themselves for an increasingly volatile climate, rather than waiting for handouts. We have witnessed firsthand how farmers bounce back stronger after climate shocks when they have the right tools and support,” said Rose Goslinga, Director of Pula Foundation. “This partnership with Bayer Foundation will enable us to expand our reach and ensure that millions more farmers can secure their livelihoods and build resilience against climate risks.”

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