In the past 150 years, half of the deadliest typhoons to hit the Philippines occurred in the last two decades. Farmers are particularly at risk to these natural disasters and many do not have access to affordable insurance and where it is available, claims often take a long time to be paid out. CLIMBS (Philippines) in partnership with fellow ICMIF member IBISA Network (Luxemburg), Global Parametrics (UK), and the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), made available an affordable parametric weather insurance product which uses 24/7 satellite monitoring and pays out to policyholders within 15 days of a severe weather occurrence without the need to file a claim or in person assessments.

The Philippines is the country most at risk from the climate crisis, according to a 2019 report by the Institute for Economics and Peace. Located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, it is susceptible to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and, medium and largescale natural disasters such as floods, droughts, and typhoons. Many Filipinos are affected with farmers and agri-preneurs particularly at risk. In 2021 alone, the agriculture sector in the Philippines suffered PHP 19.38 billion in production loss, 93.6% of which was due to typhoons, droughts and other climate related disasters.

Farmers are often among the poorest and most vulnerable populations with an average age of 60 and an average annual income of around USD 2,000, well below the poverty line. Financial institutions are reluctant to finance farmers due to the perceived risk associated…