Financing social and ecological resilience on nature’s frontlines
Small-scale fishers and smallholder farmers live amidst a wealth of natural resources but remain largely excluded from formal financial systems. Without access to banking, credit, and insurance, rural communities often struggle to withstand external shocks, plan beyond crisis response, and invest in nature-based solutions that protect their environment and its ecosystem services.
Rare connects rural and remote communities to the formal financial sector, helping them build financial resilience to shocks fueled by climate change.
Impact at a glance
Rare’s behavioral science and innovation work is helping communities adopt sustainable practices, strengthen conservation leadership, and scale solutions worldwide.
microenterprises formalized across Mozambique, Brazil, Indonesia, and Honduras
household members benefiting from microinsurance coverage
savings clubs with 22,000+ members saving $8.2M across eight countries
Deploying innovative finance for frontline communities
Through savings clubs, financial literacy training, and innovative insurance programs, Rare helps people in rural and remote communities build wealth, manage their finances effectively, and access banks and other financial institutions within the formal economy.
Rare helps community members establish their financial identity, build savings, and track financial transactions—opening the doorway to formal financial services.
We support microbusiness leaders in entering the formal economy by building financial skills, improving access to financial services, and using technology to strengthen resilience and enable better financial tracking and transparency.
We help fishers secure their livelihoods through insurance solutions, from indemnity coverage for injury or death at sea to parametric insurance in the Philippines that delivers quick payouts when weather prevents fishing.
Our Small Scale Fisheries Impact Bond is a first-of-its-kind instrument designed to channel private and philanthropic capital toward the revitalization and sustainable management of coastal communities and ecosystems.
Where we work
Rare works in the world’s most biodiverse and climate-vulnerable geographies to strengthen community and ecological resilience. Our coastal fisheries program spans communities across Africa, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
Africa
Africa hosts extraordinary biodiversity, from megafauna and rich coastal ecosystems to forests, savannas, and grasslands that support wildlife found nowhere else on Earth. These landscapes are also the backbone of food security and economic opportunity for millions of people.
Asia Pacific
The Asia Pacific region encompasses some of the richest marine and terrestrial biodiversity on Earth, including the Coral Triangle. Millions of people rely on these ecosystems for food, livelihoods, and protection from storms and sea-level rise.
Latin America
Latin America and the Caribbean is home to some of the world’s greatest concentrations of biodiversity — from tropical forests and coral reefs to mangroves, mountains, and freshwater systems. These ecosystems support millions of people with food, livelihoods, and cultural identity.
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Donors and partners
Rare works with a wide range of partners to strengthen community-led management of fisheries. The following is a sampling of Rare’s partners and supporters (past and present).
We are grateful to the partners and supporters whose collaboration makes this work possible.
