LATs/CFND Strengthening the regulatory and operational environment of agricultural insurance for resilient livestock systems

Resilient and integrated livestock value chains through enhanced capacity of target countries to develop policies, strategies and programmes on livestock insurance

Addis Ababa

8 months

Background Africa is off track to meet Sustainable Development Goal 2 on Zero Hunger by 2030 and the African 2063 goals related to food security. In 2023, over 298 million Africans, representing 40% of the global total, faced hunger, with the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbating the situation. Despite holding 65% of arable land, Africa’s food systems are highly vulnerable to climatic shocks, disproportionately affecting pastoralists and other marginalized groups. There is, therefore, an urgent need to transform African food systems towards making them more resilient and inclusive, to reduce the impact of climate change and ensure the inclusion of vulnerable populations, including pastoralists whose livelihoods depend on ecosystems that are extremely vulnerable to climate shocks. The livestock value chain presents an immense opportunity to serve as the basis for agri-food value chain transformation, addressing Africa’s food security and nutrition challenges while promoting diversification and trade. This sector currently faces challenges, including vulnerability to climate change, land tenure insecurity, and conflicts which primarily rely on communally managed land and pasture. The challenges are further compounded by poor access to inputs; inadequate access to quality breeds that align with market demand for food and leather, limited financing and insurance options—especially for drought coverage; and failure to meet sanitary and phytosanitary standards, as well as limited technical capacities. Additionally, a low level of cross-border trade in livestock products and commodities adversely limits investment and agri-food system resilience and transformation. Addressing these challenges requires reforming policy and regulatory frameworks, enhancing market opportunities, and fostering cooperation to overcome constraints Aditionally, the livestock sector has limited resilience and capacity to adapt to climate change impacts, especially pastoral communities, which increase investment risks in the value chain. Livestock insurance, specifically index-based insurance products, has emerged as a pivotal tool in mitigating these risks. However, uptake has been significantly low among smallholder farmers due to unaffordability of the insurance products; lack of awareness and understanding of the products, inadequate risk related data to develop good insurance products that are accurate, timely and sufficiently granular to capture homogeneous risks at the local level; poor enabling environment for policy development and institutional capacity to develop insurance products that respond to the needs of smallholder farmers, among others. Context Livestock is a critical pillar of East Africa’s economies, with Somalia, Kenya, and Uganda all heavily reliant on the sector for livelihoods, food security, and national income. In Somalia, livestock contributes nearly half of the national GDP, with pastoralism dominating production. However, recurrent climate shocks, biodiversity loss, and disease outbreaks have devastated the sector, leading to widespread displacement and dependence on imports and aid. Kenya’s livestock industry employs half of the agricultural labor force and contributes significantly to GDP, but rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, and recurrent droughts in arid and semi-arid regions have intensified competition for scarce resources, increased mortality rates, and worsened disease prevalence. Uganda’s livestock sector, though smaller in scale, remains vital, supporting 4.5 million people and contributing 17% to agricultural GDP. Production systems vary from pastoralism in the north to mixed crop-livestock farming in the central and southern regions. Yet, climate change is eroding productivity through reduced forage, prolonged droughts, and rising pest and disease burdens. Across all three countries, the livestock sector faces mounting challenges from environmental stressors, resource conflicts, and health risks, threatening its sustainability and the resilience of communities that depend on it. Despite high exposure to climatic shocks across the three countries, the uptake of agricultural insurance remains limited, even though it has significant potential to cushion farmers against risks such as disease, theft/cattle rustling, and natural disasters. In Kenya, companies like APA Insurance and Madison Group have introduced specialized livestock insurance products that help producers access loans and safeguard their investments. However, these schemes essentially serve commercial livestock enterprises, leaving smallholders—particularly pastoralists—without adequate coverage. Uganda faces a similar challenge, with low adoption of agricultural insurance among pastoral communities, despite the launch of the Uganda Agriculture Insurance Scheme (UAIS) nearly a decade ago. In Somalia, uptake is also minimal, especially among pastoralists who are highly exposed to recurrent droughts. Nonetheless, initiatives such as Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) developed by SomReP and Takaful provide promising models. Scaling up such programs, alongside strengthening regulatory frameworks and raising awareness among pastoral communities in the three countries, could play a critical role in mitigating risks and building resilience in the livestock sector. In this context, the ALPC seeks to engage a consultant to conduct assessments on the viability of insurance programmes in the livestock sector, identify challenges hindering the development and adoption of livestock insurance, including gaps in policies and legislation, and provide recommendations. The consultant will also lead in organizing country-level sensitization and capacity building workshops targeting legislators, ministries and government departments responsible for livestock, association/cooperatives of livestock producers, traditional leaders, non-governmental actors, and the private sector, such as banks and Insurance companies. The goal is to build political will and enhance skills needed to support policy and legislative reforms that enhance livestock insurance systems. Finally, the consultant will organize a write-shop for drafting key policy and legislative proposals and review of the drafts to strengthen the regulatory and operational environment for livestock insurance. Under the overall guidance of the Chief and Land and Agricultural Transformation Section (LATs) , and working closely with other LATs staff and a Lead Consultant, the consultant will conduct the following tasks: i. Conduct desk reviews of relevant policies, laws, and strategies on strengthening the regulatory and operational environment for livestock insurance ii. Undertake stakeholder consultations (government, pastoralist associations, civil society, private sector, donors). iii. Map challenges and opportunities of insurance in the livestock sector and in pastoral systems. iv. Analyze gender and social inclusion dimensions of livestock insurance programmes. v. Develop recommendations and propose entry points for policy and legislative review vi. Facilitate policy dialogue and validation workshops with stakeholders vii. Organize and facilitate write-shops of policy or legislative drafting/amendments to create an enabling environment for agricultural insurance viii. Provide overall support to all country level activities of the project

• Advanced university degree in agricultural economics, livestock management, or related disciplines, including actuarial science and policy-related fields • Knowledge of climate change adaptation, risk management, and agricultural insurance is an advantage • A minimum of 5 years of experience at the national and/or regional level in agricultural insurance, livestock sector development, or related policy advisory roles is required. • Experience in conducting country-level assessments and supporting policy advocacy and reform processes at national or regional levels in agriculture, livestock, or insurance sectors is required • Good knowledge of livestock production systems (pastoralism, mixed farming, commercial enterprises) and their vulnerabilities to climate and market risks is an advantage • Strong skills in stakeholder engagement, participatory processes, and capacity building

Not available.

Not available.

THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.