R4 Rural Resilience Initiative

General

Name of initiative R4 Rural Resilience Initiative
LPAA initiative Yes
NAZCA Initiative Yes
Website address https://www.wfp.org/r4-rural-resilience-initiative
Related initiatives
Starting year 2011
End year
Secretariat World Food Programme (WFP), Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68, Parco dei Medici, 00148 - Rome - Italy, Tel: +39-06-65131, Mr. Fabio Bedini; e-mail: fabio.bedini.@wfp.org;

Mr. Mathieu Dubreuil, e-mail: Mathieu.dubreuil@wfp.org

Organisational structure WFP and Oxfam America launched the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) in 2011 to enable vulnerable rural families to increase their food and income security by managing climate-related risks.

As of 2020, R4 reached over 200,000 households (about 1 M people) in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Mozambique, Burkina Faso and Madagascar through a combination of four risk management strategies: improved resource management through asset creation (risk reduction); insurance (risk transfer); livelihoods diversification and microcredit (prudent risk taking); and savings (risk retention).

Geographical coverage Africa
Name of lead organisation World Food Programme
Type of lead organisation International organisation
Location/Nationality of lead organisation Italy

Description

Description The R4 Rural Resilience Initiative is the World Food Programme (WFP)’s flagship approach for integrated climate risk management. The initiative aims to help communities build resilience, incomes and wellbeing in the face of increasing climate variability and shocks. The initiative combines four risk management strategies: reducing the risk of climate-related shocks through nature-based solutions and improved agricultural practices; transferring the risk of catastrophic events to private insurance markets; enabling better risk retention of households and communities through the promotion of group savings and integration with social protection systems; and promoting prudent-risk taking through a combination of financial education, livelihoods diversification, and easier access to credit to enable better investments.
Objectives Ensure one million farmers have access to insurance and integrated risk management strategies by 2025.
Activities R4 builds on the success of the Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) project in Ethiopia. It gives poor farmers and rural households the option to pay for insurance by contributing their time and labour to local climate adaptation measures, such as soil and water conservation, crop irrigation and community forestry.

Video about R4 at its web-site.

One or two success stories achieved

Monitoring and Impacts

Function of initiative Implementation, Funding, Technical dialogue
Activity of initiative Technical operational implementation (ex-post), Financing, Knowledge dissemination and exchange
Indicators
Goals The aim of the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative is to enable vulnerable households to cope with increasing climatic risks by enabling them to access insurance solutions and a range of integrated risk management strategies. Through R4, WFP has led the way in developing and testing innovative microinsurance solutions, which - when integrated with better access to financial services and nature-based solutions for risk reduction – help to diversify livelihoods, unlock investment potential, and provide vulnerable communities with an effective protection against different types and levels of shocks.


To support the sustainability and scale up of insurance solutions and risk management services, WFP gradually builds the capacity of local stakeholders in R4 countries, focusing on building systems and promoting increased national ownership, eventually contributing to strengthening the resilience of communities and governments, by supporting them to better prepare for and respond to climate and other shocks.

The initiative aims to reach one million farming households insured in 22 countries by 2025.

Comments on indicators and goals "Through its innovative integrated climate risk management approach, R4 enables the poorest farmers to access crop insurance by participating in risk reduction activities. Assets built through such activities – including WFP’s Food Assistance for Assets programmes – promote the resilience of farmers and their families by steadily decreasing vulnerability to disaster risks over time.

When a shock hits, compensation for weather-related losses prevents farmers from having to take desperate measures such as selling productive assets, and stimulates faster recovery. By protecting farmers’ investments in case of a bad season, R4 enables them to invest in riskier but more remunerative enterprises, as well as in seeds, fertilizers and new technologies.

Evaluations show how R4 is helping improve farmers’ resilience. For example, in Ethiopia insured farmers save more than twice as much as those without any insurance, and they invest more in seeds, fertilizers and productive assets, such as plough oxen.

The initiative also has positive effects on gender equality. In Senegal, women claimed that they felt empowered as – in addition to having increased access to land, seeds and water for irrigation and drinking – they could benefit from training in numeracy, literacy and business.

To ensure long-term sustainability, R4 contributes to the creation of rural financial markets, by building the capacity of farmers, local insurance companies and micro-finance institutions and gradually supporting farmers to start paying for insurance in cash."

How will goals be achieved
Have you changed or strenghtened your goals
Progress towards the goals In 2020/21 agricultural season, R4 reached nearly 180,000 farming households (55 percent women), benefitting approximately 900,000 people in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal, Zambia and Zimbabwe. So far in 2021, WFP has been able to reach nearly 75,000 farming households (32 percent women) with microinsurance and a range of integrated climate risk management strategies in six countries (Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Senegal). WFP successfully started operations in the Dry Corridor, launching three insurance pilots in Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua, protecting farmers and small and micro entrepreneurs against a number of climate-related risks, including drought, earthquake and excess rainfall, among others.

In the Somali region of Ethiopia, WFP supported 28,298 pastoralist households to access satellite index insurance for livestock. After a poor rainy season resulted in lower than average pasture availability, a payout of US$ 93,600 was triggered, providing 2,876 pastoralists with cash assistance.

How are you tracking progress of your initiative
Available reporting https://www.wfp.org/publications/r4-rural-resilience-initiative-annual-report-2019

Participants

Participants Number Names
Members 106  
Companies 24 APA Insurance (Kenya),APA Insurance (Kenya),Aseguradora Rural (Guatamala),Assurances Réassurances Omnibranches (Madagascar),Baitoul Maal (Burkina Faso),Compagnie Nationale d’Assurance Agricole du Senegal (Senegal),CUMO Microfinance (Malawi),Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution (Ethiopia),Esen (Cuba),Green Delta Insurance (Bangladesh),Hollard Seguros (Mozambique),Inclusive Guarantee (France),INISER (Nicaragua),Insurance Association of Malawi (Malawi),Mayfair Insurance Company (Zambia),Mfinance (Zambia),MTN Zambia (Zambia),NICO Insurance Company (Malawi),Old Mutual Insurance Company Private Limited (Zimbabwe),Oromia Insurance Company (Ethiopia),Pula Advisors (Switzerland),Pula Advisors (Switzerland),RuSACCOs (Ethiopia),Save Earth Climate Services (Bangladseh),Seguros Futuro (El Salvador),Yeleen Assurance (Burkina Faso).
Business organisations 55 Aceagrarios (Mozambique),  Action Aid (South Africa),  African Risk Capacity (South Africa),  National Agency for Rural and Agricultural Assistance (Senegal),  National Meteorological and Civil Aviation Agency (Senegal),  Agricultural Meteorology Centre of the Cuban Institute of Meteorology (Cuba),  Aquaculture Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe),  CCM (Mozambique),  Community Technology Development Trust (Zimbabwe),  Department of Climate Change and Meteorological Services (Malawi),  Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Malawi),  Development Aid from People to People (Zambia),  Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (Zambia),  Emmanuel International (Malawi),  Find your feet (United K.),  FAO (Italy),  Foundation for Irrigation and Sustainable Development Fund (Malawi),  Foundations for Farming (Zimbabwe),  Gana Unnayan Kendra (Bangladesh),  Heifer International (USA),  International Centre for Maize and Wheat Improvement (Mexico),  International Fund For Agricultural Development-IFAD (Italy),  International Research Institute For Climate And Society-Columbia University (USA),  International Water Management Institute (India),  Kulima (Mozambique),  La Lumière (Senegal),  Ministry of Agriculture (Cuba),  Ministry of Agriculture (Zambia),  Ministry of Agriculture (Malawi),  Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Mozambique),  Ministry of Agriculture Livestock and Fisheries (Madagascar),  Ministry of Agriculture,  -Livestock - Fisheries and Irrigation (Kenya),  Ministry of Finance Economic Planning and Development (Malawi),  Ministry of Lands - Agriculture -Water - Climate and Rural Resettlement (Zimbabwe),  Mozambique National Meteorology Institute (Mozambique),  Mwenezi Development Training Center (Zimbabwe),  National Development Programme (Bangladesh),  National Institute of Disaster Management (Mozambique),  Orange Finances Mobiles Senegal (Senegal),  Oxfam America (USA),  Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara (Ethiopia),  Plan International (United K.),  Red Cross (Switzerland),  Secretariat Executif au Conseil National de Securité Alimentaire (Senegal),  Self Help Africa (Ethiopia),  Symbiose Sénégal (Senegal),  Technical Agroecological Center of the South (Madagascar),  TechnoServe (Zambia),  SNV (Netherlands),  United Nations Capital Development Fund (USA),  Vision Fund Zambia Limited (Zambia),  Weather Risk Management Services (India),  World Food Programme (Italy),  World Vision (USA),  Zambia Meteorological Department (Zambia),  Zanaco (Zambia).
Research and educational organisations 0
Non-governmental organisations 2 WFP (Italy),  Oxfam America (USA)
National states 16 Bangladesh,  Burkina Faso,  Cuba,  El Salvador,  Ethiopia,  Fiji,  Guatamala,  Haiti,  Kenya,  Madagascar,  Malawi,  Mozambique,  Nicaragua,  Senegal,  Zambia,  Zimbabwe.
Governmental actors 0
Regional / state / county actors 0
City / municipal actors 2 Kitui County (Kenya),  Makueni County (Kenya)
Intergovernmental organisations 0
Financial Institutions 7 AXA Group (France),  Blue Marble (USA),  Hannover Re (Germany),  Micro (Barbados),  SCOR SE (France),  Swiss Re (Switzerland),  Willis Towers Watson (United K.).
Faith based organisations 0
Other members 0
Supporting partners 0
Number of members in the years
Have only national states as participators No


Theme

Transport Agriculture Forestry Business Financial institutions Buildings Industry Waste Cities and subnational governments Short Term Pollutants International maritime transport Energy Supply Fluorinated gases Energy efficiency Renewable energy Supply chain emission reductions Adaptation Other Resilience Innovation Energy Access and Efficiency Private Finance
No Yes Yes No No No No No No No No No No No No No Yes No Yes No No No
Last update: 13 February 2023 13:26:53

Not only have national states as participators