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Inclusive Insurance for Community & Ecosystem Resilience | Rare

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Insurance

Inclusive Insurance for Community & Ecosystem Resilience

Small-scale fishers face a complex web of financial risk, often without access to any formal safety net: 

  • Intensifying storms and unsafe seas 
  • Injuries, disability, or death from dangerous work 
  • Declining fish stocks and income volatility 
  • Lack of access to savings, credit, or public recovery support 

Without protection, even minor shocks can force fishers to overexploit marine resources, take out predatory loans, or sell productive assets—deepening poverty and ecosystem degradation. Insurance builds community and financial resilience to the impacts of climate change—and Rare is making it accessible, affordable, and effective in the hardest-to-reach coastal communities. 

Two Tools, One Goal: Resilience 

Insurance helps fishers manage different types of risk—each requiring a different approach. Rare is deploying two complementary insurance products to create a layered safety net that addresses both the human and environmental dimensions of resilience.

Indemnity Insurance

Indemnity Insurance (Microinsurance): Support for when fishers cannot fish  

Indemnity insurance provides customized payouts when fishers suffer injury or death at sea—protecting families from falling into crisis. This financial support reduces pressure to overfish, take on debt, or pull children from school, while strengthening long-term household resilience. We train local agents—often women—to lead insurance drives, support enrollment, and provide literacy training, creating income opportunities and trust-based adoption.

Expand to learn more
  • What it covers: Fishing-related accidental death or disability 
  • Cost: ~$3–$5/year (often subsidized) 
  • Payouts: $500–$1,000 
  • Where: Philippines, Indonesia, Mozambique, Honduras 
  • Delivery model: Community insurance drives + savings clubs 
  • Reach: 17,600+ policies, covering 72,000+ household members  

We’ve covered 72,000+ people so far—proof that this model scales. 

Parametric Insurance

Parametric Insurance: Relief when weather makes fishing unsafe 

Parametric insurance provides fast, automatic payouts based on weather thresholds—no paperwork, no delays. When storms make fishing unsafe, it stabilizes income and helps fishers avoid destructive coping strategies like overfishing or taking on debt. The product is now market-ready and scalable. 

Expand to learn more
  • What it covers: Lost income due to weather making fishing unsafe 
  • Trigger: Wind, wave, and rainfall thresholds (via ERA5 satellite data) 
  • Payouts: ~USD $100/year (approx. one month’s income) 
  • Where: Pilot phase in the Philippines (20 municipalities) 
  • Delivery model: Government-held policy (BFAR); claims handled by PCIC 
  • Reach: 18,000 fishers covered 

Stories & Insights

From risk to resilience: How financial innovation is reshaping ocean conservation
Read the insight
Weather Index-Based Parametric Insurance for Small-Scale Fishers – Rare and WTW
Read the primer

Contact

Interested in connecting with our team? 

Contact Diane Figueroa: dfigueroa@rare.org

Resources

Resources

Parametric Insurance 2-pager
Download the 2-pager
Microinsurance (Indemnity)
Download the 2-pager

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