Gender & Risk Finance
From micro to macro: Examples of inclusive
disaster risk financing in LAC and West Africa
March 2023

“Gender equality and women’s and girls’
empowerment are essential building blocks
for healthy, prosperous, and resilient
communities. Societies where girls andwomen have the tools and opportunities tothrive can promote economic development,
support development goals, fight climatechange and build food and nutrition security”.
WFP Gender Insight Series 2023

2

Introduction
Authors: Leticia Gonçalves, Oda Henriksen, and Michael Goode
Women and girls have been severely affected by thetraining, improved nutritional intake, resilience building

unfolding global food crisis, on top of climate shocks,

and climate change adaption activities are also important

COVID-19, increased conflict, and food insecurity. Foodcomponents. Still, there is no ready-made formula for

insecurity and gender inequality are deeply interlinked.

success or a fixed-chronological sequence of activities to

According to the 2022 edition of The State of Food Security

be implemented.

and Nutrition in the World, nearly 32 percent of women
were moderately or severely food insecure compared to 28
percent of men.

For over a decade, WFP has been supporting climate risk
insurance as an important piece of the strategy for building
women’s economic empowerment. The fast recovery and

As of 2021, there were 150 million more food insecure

protection from loss and damages that access to climate

women than men in the world. WFP’s approach ensured

risk insurance can provide helps countries and households

that 68 million women and girls – more than half of the 128

to better manage the impacts of the climate crisis, which ismillion people reached in 2021 – received WFP food

why WFP is advancing financial protection as one avenue

assistance.

for building resilience to extreme weather events.

Women play a critical role in food production, but they are
more likely to be food insecure than men. They often findthat they are at a disadvantage when it comes to foodproduction: they have the least opportunities to acquire

Currently, WFP supports climate risk insurance
programmes in 19 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin
America and the Caribbean at the micro, meso, and macrolevel.

land and assets such as seeds, tools, and fertilizers, they

Sovereign insurance or macro-level insurance, is one

are less connected to food chains, and even when they areapproach where WFP partners with national governments

landholders, the yields of women farmers are 20-30

and regional risk pools to purchase an insurance productpercent lower than for men.

or top-up premium finance for an existing policy to finance

WFP understands the power of gender equality for foodsecurity and how women’s empowerment is central to our
mission. WFP’s gender policy ensures that we optimize ourpresence, role, and partnership capabilities to advancegender equality and empower women.

WFP’s assistance when a climate shock triggers a payout.
WFP’s meso and microinsurance programmes, under theR4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4), target vulnerable farmingor pastoralist households as well as micro, small andmedium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) to support access toinsurance through an integrated risk management

There is no prospect of achieving SDG2 (Zero Hunger)

approach. The initiative builds resilience through four

without achieving SDG5 (Gender Equality). Societies where

integrated pillars: risk reduction, risk transfer, risk

girls and women have the tools and opportunities toretention, and prudent risk taking. These pillars

prosper are more likely to enjoy economic growth,complement each other and provide support for different

development, and progress when it comes to adapting torisk severity levels, as insurance is not a standalone

climate shocks and building food and nutrition security.

solution for managing a variety of risks.

If we can provide better support for women and girls to

We now present the story of women that have access toaccess the information and resources they need while

WFP’s climate risk insurance and related interventions,empowering them with economic and decision-making

helping them to safeguard and strengthen theiropportunities, the result is improved food security andlivelihoods, ensure food security of their households, andnutrition for all.

build their resilience, even with increasing climate shocks.

Women’s economic empowerment remains one of the

In Guatemala, Damaris is the ‘promoter’ of a women

most powerful routes for women to achieve their potential,community that, with WFP's support, have transformed thewhile advancing their rights. It is a multidimensional

land into hope and opportunity for the families living there.

approach, depending on structural circumstances at the

In Senegal, through participating in the integrated climate

community, household, and individual level.

risk management approach, Fanta has been able to

It could start gradually with financial and digital inclusion,
like access to savings, credit, and insurance. Education andMarch 2023 | Gender & Risk Financeprotect her livelihoods while diversifying her income. In
Haiti, Manise shows how women can get together andprosper by having a joint objective and3

tangible goals. In El Salvador, Norma shows us how a

support vulnerable families to move forward and havecommunity leader can motivate a group of women andtheir nutritional needs met.

promote sustainable changes within their community.

Insurance might not be the silver bullet, still, it is an

On macro-level insurance, the testimonials of Hatouma,

important component to achieve financial protection andAïssé & Fatoumata in Mali, and Zourata in Burkina Faso

build resilience, as demonstrated by the stories shared.

demonstrate how providing timely assistance can

Regardless of their location and context, by listening to ourguarantee food security to the most vulnerable, while

beneficiaries WFP can be sure that insurance greatly

reinforcing communities’ resilience to climate shocks cancontributes to the economic empowerment of women andpromote lasting changes.

households more broadly, when integrated into a

The successful example illustrated by Nicaragua of a risk-

comprehensive approach.

layering approach built by a combination of financial
instruments to address hazards of varying intensities andfrequencies can be strategic on guaranteeing that no one isleft behind. As Maria Inés said, having insurance canPhoto cover:

WFP Mali / Aboubacar Sidibe

WFP Mali / Aboubacar Sidibe

WFP Nicaragua / Sabrina Quezada

Senegal / Nouha Drame (independent photographer based in Kolda)

WFP Mali / Aboubacar Sidibe

Guatemala / Esteban Barrera

Guatemala / Esteban Barrera

WFP / Giulio d'Adamo

WFP Burkina Faso / Cheick Omar Bandaog

WFP Mali / Aboubacar Sidibe

WFP Nicaragua / Sabrina Quezada

Meet DAMARISABOUT GUATEMALA
Guatemala is one of the most vulnerable countries tonatural hazards. Increasing frequency and intensity ofdroughts, as well as excessive rains, abrupt changes intemperature, severe flooding, and landslides have led tochronic food insecurity in recent years, with the COVID-19
crisis exacerbating the situation. This increases vulnerability,
especially among smallholder farmers who lack adequate
methods to manage climate-related shocks.

PROTECTING FAMILIES IN THE DRY
CORRIDORWFP Guatemala implements integrated resilience-building
activities, which include income-generation, asset creation,
environmental rehabilitation, community governance, andnutrition as well as social and behaviour-change
communication. WFP has also supported the integration of an
innovative parametric microinsurance product that covers
business interruption in case ofdrought or excessive rain.
Damaris (32), lives in thecommunity of La Lima, in thedepartment of Chiquimula, which isin the drought-prone region ofCentral America known as the Dry
Corridor. In Chiquimula, over
151,800 people are acutely foodinsecure (IPC Phase 3 and 4). In recent years, increasingly
recurrent droughts have destroyed maize, beans, rice andother staple crops, leaving families with difficult choices andlittle to eat.
Damaris is the ‘promoter’ of the +50 women community that,with WFP's support, have transformed the land into hope andopportunity for the families living there. They're growing
drought-resistant crops, making organic pesticides, and are
now prepared for the dry season.

“Before the programme came here
to guide the families, the situation
was difficult because
unfortunately not all of us haveland to grow our maize andbeans.”

Credits
Interviews conducted by: Elio Rujano, WFP Regional Communications Officer
Interview translated by: Elio Rujano, WFP Regional Communications Officer
Interview language: Spanish

March 2023 | Gender & Risk FinanceAs part of the scale up strategy, within WFP
Guatemala’s Anticipatory Action (AA) portfolio, a
Forecast Index Insurance initiative is being
developed so that the product can incorporate apreliminary payout trigger so beneficiaries canimplement anticipatory actions in advance ofextended dry spells in the department of
Chiquimula.

Country/region of interview: Guatemala
Date: 7 September 2022

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Meet FANTAABOUT SENEGAL
Despite being a stable and democratic country, Senegal still
suffers from high levels of hunger, ranking 71st out of 121
countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index. The country isvulnerable to various natural hazards, including coastal erosion,
droughts, floods, locust invasions, wildfires, and sea-level rise.
Rapid population and urbanization growth, scarce foodproduction, droughts, land degradation and high food prices havenegatively affected the country’s food security.

INTEGRATED PACKAGE TO CHANGELIVES IN KOLDA

married and mother of four children, including three girls, in apolygamous household. She is active in rice growing and
WFP Senegal has implemented an integrated climate risk
market gardening. Participating in the integrated approach
management approach (R4) since 2013, which began scaling
has allowed Fanta to overcome the hardships caused by theup in 2020 thanks to a contribution from the Green Climate
climate crisis and steadily build her resilience. She is aware
Fund (GCF). The approach combines risk reduction activities that anything can happen during a season and prefers tothrough WFP’s Food Assistance for Assets (FFA), climate
protect herself against rainfall deficits by subscribing toservices and market gardening - risk transfer throughagricultural insurance. She recognizes the usefulness of the
microinsurance, risk retention as well as prudent risk taking
integrated package and regularly shares feedback on
through savings, livelihoods
how to improve it to ensure it is best tailored to her
diversification and easier access to
Getting access toneeds and those of her community.
credit. Members of these savings
agricultural insurancegroups are mainly vulnerable women
In 2023, the project will continue to help womenmeans “having peace oflike Fanta Kandé.
farmers like Fanta protect and grow their livelihoods,
mind because in the event
improve the food security and the overall wellbeing of
Fanta (40) lives in Saré Ndiaye, a village
of a rainfall deficit, we are
their families.
located in the rural area of the Kolda
compensated”.
region, in the south of Senegal. She is

Credits
Interview conducted by: Louis Philippe Sagna, WFP Senegal, COM & Multimedia
Interview translated by: Malang Kande & Fatoumata Diallo, partner NGO la Lumière

March 2023 | Gender & Risk FinanceCountry and date of interview: Kolda, Senegal, 9.02.2023

6

Meet MANISEABOUT HAITI
Haiti remains the poorest country in the Latin America andthe Caribbean region. Globally, Haiti is one of most risk exposed
countries to natural hazards such as hurricanes, floods, andearthquakes. This will only worsen as the climate crisis
increases the frequency, intensity, and impacts of extreme
weather events. Haiti, while making some progress, still lacks
adequate risk management and resilience-building
mechanisms.

SCALING PROTECTION AND
MARKET LINKAGESWFP Haiti is combining a set of integrated risk management
strategies of the Rural Resilience Initiative (R4), including
access to microinsurance, to address both climatic and nonclimatic drivers of vulnerability. Together, these will support
income generation, asset creation, environmental
rehabilitation, community governance, improved nutrition,
behaviour-change communication andsocial protection initiatives.
Manise (38), lives in Deschamps, asection in the Commune of
Roseau, in Grand Anse. Similar to themajority of households in rural areas,
Manise and her family prioritize
farming activities as a way to generate
revenues and support theirhouseholds’ food consumption needs.

Credits
Interviews conducted by: Isabelle Delpeche, WFP Haiti
Interview translated by: Isabelle Delpeche, WFP Haiti

March 2023 | Gender & Risk FinanceThe commune of Roseau is often subject to intense droughts
and dry spells.
Manise is the secretary of an association, women’s group
ASOFAD, involved in various activities; such as farming,
mills, solidarity and savings’ group. The association includes
around 200 members who have clubbed together with ashared objective of reinforcing their capacities. In 2022,
Manise and some of her group members hadaccess to insurance for the very first time.

“We are very honored to haveinsurance here, because as awoman organization we see there
are programs that can reinforce
capacities in the communities, andit means we can one day hope forprograms like credit, and insurance
for windstorm.”

Although this project is still in the pilot stage,
the scale-up strategy design process isunderway. Product design for two extra
departments have began, and a macro-level
insurance approach will be explored together
with the Government.

Interview language: French
Country/region of interview: Haiti
Date: February 2023

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Meet NORMAABOUT EL SALVADOREl Salvador is Central America’s smallest and most densely
populated country. The Global Climate Risk Index places El
Salvador at number 28 out of 180 countries, being the second
most vulnerable country in Central America. In recent years,
extreme events resulted in numerous financial losses, causing
strong social, economic and environmental impact, affecting
social investment and employment, while accentuating theexisting disparities and vulnerabilities.

GENERATING SAVINGS AND
PROTECTION IN THE DRY CORRIDORWFP El Salvador’s strategy seeks to integrate insurance into
the country’s resilience building and market accessprogrammes as a key tool to protect livelihoods andinvestments, promote increased agricultural productivity andfoster resilience. In 2021, WFP El Salvador launched an
innovative insurance pilot protecting farmers and microentrepreneurs against the interruption of any productive
activity due to excess rainfall, drought or earthquake.

and has motivated many other women to participate in WFP's
projects of savings groups and insurance. She is a single
mother who has raised her three sons on her own. One ofthem has recently joined WFP’s Gasstro-Lab programme tooffer training and career opportunities for young people inlocal restaurants and hotels.

A sustainability and scale-up plan is in place for future
expansion in 2023. The Government of El Salvador has
Norma (32), lives in Uluazapa, Department of San Miguel,presented inclusive parametric insurance as a key tool tolocated in Central America’s Dry Corridor, an area highly prone overcome environmental issues in the new Country Plan. WFP
to extreme climate phenomena,
is working with the Government in supporting theespecially droughts.
expansion of the microinsurance product through“After the storm, comes the calm
weather. I felt extremely happy insocial protection and productivity programmes.
Norma is a leader in her community
receiving the payout from theinsurance company.”

Credits
Interviews conducted by: Walter Hernandez, WFP El Salvador
Interview translated by: Walter Hernandez, WFP El Salvador

March 2023 | Gender & Risk FinanceInterview language: Spanish
Country/region of interview: El Salvador
Date: February 2023

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Macro-level
insurance“When I received the
cash transfer, I was so
happy. I used themoney to buy 50 kg ofmaize, and with theremaining, I purchased
a solar panel with its
battery” - Hatouma"We had nothing to eat
due to the poor
harvest, so I used themoney I received from
WFP to buy food for myfamily "- Aïssé"Without the aid we
received, our situation
would have been difficult
because women would
have continued to cut
wood to cover small
expenses, but the aid
enabled us to breathe" Fatoumata

WFP’S RESPONSE
After the worst drought the country had experienced in five years,
WFP received its first payout from ARC in Mali that provided US$7.1
million to support 204,000 people in drought-affected regions in
2022. This insurance payout enabled WFP to provide emergency
support and implement resilience building activities to the mostvulnerable populations.

ABOUT MALI
Mali is highly vulnerable to the impacts of the climate crisis
due to its high sensitivity to adverse effects such as recurrent
droughts and floods, leading to desertification and foodinsecurity. The combined effects of recurrent droughts andincreased insecurity have contributed to a gradual
deterioration of livelihoods. Besides the climate-related andsocio-political shocks, other key challenges affecting thecountry include high demographic growth, widespreadpoverty, underemployment, and the degradation of theagroecological resource base. In 2021, Mali experienced themost severe lack of rain in five years due to periodic dry spells
and low rainfall, which compromised the country's agricultural
production, exposing 1.9 million people across the country torisk of severe food insecurity, mainly in the regions of Kayes,
Gao, Mopti, Segou, Bandiagara and Timbuktu.

WFP implemented early actions that included cash transfers to
161,000 women, men and children affected by climatic shocks. In
addition, 20,000 children aged 6 to 23 months as well as pregnant
women and lactating mothers received nutritional support. Lastly, toreinforce communities’ resilience to climate shocks, 23,000 people
benefited from community asset building that created pastoral wells,
water towers and fishponds to diversify their livelihoods and reducethe impact of future droughts. WFP's response complemented that of
the Government of Mali to achieve significant results.

MEET HATOUMA, AÏSSÉ & FATOUMATA
Hatouma Diawara is a 75-year-old widow living in the small village ofBouly in Nioro, a region in southern Mali very prone to climate shocks,
with one of her daughters-in-law. Her sons had to migrate to otherregions to seek opportunities. She is still fit and strong at her age, thanks
to her regular work in the fields. “I used to grow okra and niébé.
However, due to the drought, my crops have been damaged. And
therefore, the small yield is only for consumption” says Hatouma, while
cutting up some okra that she plans to dry up and save for the family.

COUNTRY-LEVEL FINANCIALPROTECTION

The cash transfer received from WFP under the ARC-Replica response hashelped Hatouma beyond feeding her family, she also purchased a solar
panel and battery, and feels relieved for having a source of light at night.

The risk financing approach in Mali has focused on
macroinsurance activities under the African Risk Capacity(ARC) Replica programme. Aimed at helping governments
improve their capacities to plan, prepare for and respond todisasters caused by extreme weather events, ARC Replica is aninnovative approach to climate risk management that enablescountries - such as Mali - to extend their weather insurance
coverage to more vulnerable people in their country. WFP Mali
piloted ARC Replica in 2018 and has since bought
macroinsurance policies to finance WFP’s operations toprotect the most vulnerable against catastrophic drought
events. Through ARC Replica, WFP Mali strengthens theGovernment’s capacity to manage climate-related shocks byreinforcing national social protection systems andprogrammes.

Not far away in the same village of Bouly in Nioro, Aïssé Camara, a 45year-old widow who lives with her two children shares her concerns: The

Credits
Interviews conducted by: Aboubacar Sidibe, WFP Mali Communications Officer
Interview translated by: Aboubacar Sidibe & Mariam Kone, WFP Mali
Stories written by Myrline Sanogo Mathieu, WFP Mali

March 2023 | Gender & Risk Financelack of water is the current problem. We must travel quite a distance to getwater during a certain time of the year. Before the soils were good, it rained
frequently, and good harvests were made. The rains are rare now, and thesoil is no longer as fertile as it once was.”Agriculture used to be the primary source of income for both herself andthe village's residents. They are now all faced with difficult weather
conditions, leaving them with poor harvests. People like Aïssé and
Hatouma, whose already fragile livelihood is declining, can only rely onhumanitarian assistance to cope with the negative impacts of the climate
crisis.
Similar to Nioro, the region of Mopti in central Mali is dependent on
agriculture and livestock resources and highly vulnerable to climate
variability. "The rainy season is different from before. The rains comelate and leave early, the rains are not enough, and life is hard withoutthem" says Fatoumata Tangara, a 35-year-old farmer from the Mopti
region.
Interview language: BambaraCountry/region of interview: Mali

9

Macro-level
insurance[The ARC Replica
payout] “allowed us tobuy millet grains,
fertilizer for my fieldand I used the rest forthe care of my family
members."- Zourata

WFP’S RESPONSE
In 2022, WFP’s ARC Replica payout enabled assistance throughunconditional cash-based transfers to 21,101 food-insecure people
residing across three municipalities in Bam province (Centre-Northregion) where dry spells caused significant crop losses.
Thanks to WFP support, and encouraged by the payout response, theGovernment of Burkina Faso subscribed to the sovereign insurance
mechanism in 2022. However, insecurity was a major challenge during
the implementation of activities. Overall, the ARC Replica payout
response supported more than 1,265 women heads of households,
representing about 35 percent of the total number of households
receiving assistance.

ABOUT BURKINA FASO
Burkina Faso has suffered a fragile security context coupled with
political instability over the past years. This has led to significant
population movements and displacements, directly affecting
local economic systems and the livelihoods of displacedcommunities and host populations. The estimated number ofinternally displaced persons reached 1.85 million in 2022. Of thetotal IDPs, around 17 percent are male, 22 percent female and61 percent are children and youth. In addition to the security
issues, the country is facing climate-related shocks that alternate
between drought and flooding, leading to vulnerable
populations loosing their livelihoods and further increasing theirvulnerability. According to the Cadre Harmonisé 2022, morethan 2,618,638 people were in need of immediate foodassistance.

MANAGING EXTREME DROUGHT
RISKS
As part of its climate and disaster risk financing approach, WFP
Burkina Faso started implementing the ARC Replica (macro
insurance) programme in 2019. The same year the country officealso introduced a microinsurance scheme, in partnership with
the insurance company Yelen Assurances. Yelen utilizes theindex designed by the Technical Working Group (TWG) of ARC,
providing greater alignment between the two programmes interms of seasonal monitoring.
Under the macro-insurance program, the Burkina Faso Country
Office supports the Government on the AfricaRiskView software
customization and Risk Transfer Parameters identification for
definition of the insurance policy. In case of a payout, thecontingency plan is elaborated with relevant WFP programmeunits for efficient mainstreaming and implementation.

Credits
Interview conducted by: Cheick Omar Bandaogo, WFP Burkina Faso
& Desire Quedaogo, WFP Burkina Faso,
Interview language: Mooré

March 2023 | Gender & Risk Finance

MEET ZOURATA
Zourata Bargo (58), a mother of four lives in the village ofTrengressené, in the center-north of Burkina Faso. She previously
supported herself through agricultural production, however, today she
is involved in informal gold mining in order to survive as the land has
become so degraded its difficult to produce anything.
Zourata and her family used to live off the income generated by thefamily’s plot of land, which she planted each year between June andOctober with millet, groundnuts and chickpeas. Gradually, she saw thefruits of her labour dwindle. “The rainfall was insufficient, we also
lacked fertilizer” she says.
In this region, the impacts of the climate crisis translate to thedepletion of the agricultural resource base. Poor rainfall coupled withsoil degradation has a considerable impact on the lives of the farming
communities. Zourata explains “the main consequence of climatechange that we feel is the difficulty in feeding ourselves. We cultivate
without being able to get much out of it.”
In an effort to adapt to the changing climate, Zourata has tried new
farming techniques such as zaï pits to capture more water andconcentrate organic fertilizer like compost. After her crops still
performed poorly, she began to search for gold in the hills of Burkina
Faso's Center North region. However, illegal gold panning posesconsiderable risks to her health and the environment. This requires her
to walk long distances, far away from her home. Even so, she struggles
to find much of the precious metal, with just a few specks of gold, she
still does not have enough to meet her basic needs. She says it herself,
this activity is not profitable.
Zouarata was among the households targeted for support under the
ARC Replica payout following the unsuccessful 2021-2022 agricultural
season. For Zourata and her family, the total amount received in 2022
was 96,000 FCFA, about 155 USD. This timely support, Zourata says
with a smile "allowed us to buy millet grains, fertilizer for my field andI used the rest for the care of my family members."
The unconditional cash-based transfers allowed women like Zourata
that are victims of the climate crisis to be financially protected so they
could be able to buy food and to preserve their dignity.

Interview translated from Mooré to French by: Cheick Omar Bandaogo

10Micro and macrolevel insurance"This agricultural
insurance is very
important because it isof great help to us
farmers, who year
after year, face great
difficulties due toclimate change.”

WFP’S RESPONSE—MACROIn October 2022, Hurricane Julia (category 1) made landfall in
Nicaragua, affecting almost 4 million people (60 percent of the
population) in 60 percent of the country.
This event triggered the sovereign insurance policy that the
government had established with CCRIF SPC. In the aftermath of
Hurricane Julia, CCRIF SPC disbursed a US$8.9 million payout toNicaragua. Of this amount, WFP received compensation of
US$640,000, which was used to complement the emergency
response and implement early recovery of livelihoods, resilience andenvironmental programmes for 290,000 people in coordination with
the national and local authorities of Nicaragua.

ABOUT NICARAGUA
A lower-middle income country, Nicaragua is vulnerable to natural
hazards and climate the impact of the climate crisis. The
prevalence of informal employment, economic and social fragility,
systemic gender inequalities, and extreme weather continue tohinder progress in addressing poverty and food insecurity.
The country has been facing multiple climate-related shocks thatalternate between drought, excessive rain and hurricanes, leading
to vulnerable populations losing their livelihoods. This loss of
livelihoods further exacerbates their vulnerability by reducing
access to nutritious food and increasing the risk of food insecurity.

A RISK-LAYERED APPROACH TO
MANAGE EXTREME EVENTSWFP Nicaragua is leading the efforts in the Latin American and
Caribbean region to implement a risk-layering approach. When it
comes to risk financing, there is no “one-size-fits-all” formula. A
combination of financial instruments is needed to address hazardsof varying intensities and frequencies.
Starting in 2021, WFP Nicaragua has successfully piloted a
microinsurance agricultural product, meeting the needs ofsmallholder farmers and associations by providing an additional
instrument for their resilience building activities.
To strengthen the shock-responsiveness of government systems,
WFP Nicaragua is supporting a sovereign insurance productproviding macro-level financial protection. WFP provided a topup to the government’s tropical cyclone policy offered by the
Caribbean Catastrophic Risk Insurance Facility (CRIF SPC). The
approach enables the government and WFP to assist vulnerable
people and communities with pre-arranged funding, facilitating
rapid responses in case of extreme climate shocks.

Credits
Interviews conducted by: Sabrina Quezada, WFP Nicaragua Communications Officer

March 2023 | Gender & Risk Finance

WFP’s immediate response included provision of take-home rations
through schools in 12 municipalities, and special nutritional support
to vulnerable groups (elderly, families with multiple births, children
aged 6 to 23 months, pregnant women and lactating mothers). WFP
provided an additional school meal for school boys and girls for 60
days as well as take-home rations for the families of children enrolled
in school for a total of 150,000 people. As part of the recovery
programme to reinforce communities’ resilience to climate shocks,
WFP also is supporting the creation and improvement of school
gardens and delivering fruit trees to farming families to improve thefood security of students in 600 rural and urban schools. Finally, WFP
is providing cash transfers of US$300 to impacted families for therecovery of their urban, peri-urban and rural livelihoods, as well as
support in the preparation of business plans and trainings.

MEET MARÍA INÉS—MICROINSURANCEBENEFICIARY
María Inés Rodríguez (52), a smallholder farmer associated to the
Nuevo Horizonte cooperative lives in El Jícaro, in the department of
Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. She produces maize and beans on her 3.4
acres of land to provide food for her family, which consists of her
husband, a daughter and two young nephews. A portion of her
harvests is sold to cover the needs of her household.
At the end of 2022, her entire bean crop was lost due todrought. “We worked very hard! We borrowed about US$194 fromthe cooperative to buy the seeds and fertilizer to produce1.7 acresof beans and 1.7 acres of maize. The beans looked so green and we
expected to harvest about 20 quintales (2.000 kgs), and maybe
more. But the weather affected us, and we lost it all.” María Inésrecalls.
Globally, the climate crisis continues manifest itself in extreme
events with increasing frequency and severity. In Nicaragua,
droughts and hurricanes impact agricultural production, foodsecurity and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers. One of the many
consequences of the climate crisis affecting production is theindebtedness of smallholder farmers due to constant crop losses.
"Before we knew about agricultural insurance, we lived in debt
because we have to take out loans to be able to plant. If we lose
our crop, it means we are left without food.”
For María Inés and her husband, being able to pay for the loan was
an opportunity to continue keeping credit lines open and thus
continue receiving support for the next cycle's production from thecooperative. “...with this insurance, we are gradually moving
forward, fighting, because what we want is to keep our jobs andproduce food for our families,” she concludes.
Interview language: Spanish
Country/region of interview: Nicaragua
Pictures: Sabrina Quezada (WFP Nicaragua)

11CONCLUSIONSWFP believes Zero hunger is possible when everyone
has equal opportunities, access to resources, andvoice in the decisions, and understands the power ofgender equality in food security and how women’s
empowerment is central to our mission.
WFP’s ability to achieve its strategic objectives depends
on delivering food and nutrition assistance that
addresses the differing needs, priorities, and experiencesof the women, men, girls, and boys with whom it serves.
As previously presented in WFP’s 2022 Gender and Risk
Finance Publication, WFP has set three objectives toaddress the gender inequalities that continue toexacerbate food insecurity and poor nutrition outcomes:
I. Achieve equitable access to and control over themeans to achieve food security and nutrition
II. Progress in advancing gender equality byaddressing the root causes of gender inequality
III. Advance the economic empowerment of womenand girls
These objectives can only be met through the following
foundational priority actions which are essential for
success.
These examples presented from Haiti, Guatemala, El
Salvador and Nicaragua in the Latin America region, andSenegal, Mali and Burkina Faso in West Africa show how
these objectives can be achieved through different
approaches, with the shared vision of financial protecting
for the most vulnerable from climate and other risks.
Source: WFP Insight Series—Harnessing the power of genderequality to achieve food security (2023)

Photo Credits
Photo page 5: WFP / Giulio d'Adamo

Photo page 9: WFP Mali / Aboubacar Sidibe

Photo page 6: Senegal / Nouha Drame (independent
photographer based in Kolda)

Photo page 10: WFP Burkina Faso / Cheick Omar Bandaog

Photo page 7: WFP Haiti / Isabelle Delpeche

Photo page 11: WFP Nicaragua / Sabrina Quezada

Photo page 8: WFP El Salvador / Gabriela Moreno

March 2023 | Gender & Risk Finance12Guatemala / Esteban Barrera

Access to the climate risk finance tools would not be possible
without the generous support of WFP’s partners:

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World Food Programme
Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68/70,
00148 Rome, Italy - T +39 06 65131

wfp.org