Elements of Innovative Finance | Rare

Formalizing and building the capacity of microbusinesses

Rare trains microbusiness leaders on the benefits of the formal economy, and reduces barriers to entry. We help microbusinesses  with financial management and financial inclusion, and build their resilience against  household emergencies, natural disasters, and pandemics. We also use technology to empower both communities and formal institutions to track and share financial information more easily.

Example: Our pilot microbusiness program in Indonesia successfully registered 73 microbusinesses as legally recognized entities while providing capacity building and business skills to microbusiness owners and entrepreneurs.

Blended finance solutions

Blended finance is the strategic use of development finance and philanthropy to mobilize public funding and private capital for emerging and frontier markets, including small-scale fisheries and rural farming communities. Blended finance is designed to scale local solutions to achieve national or regional impact.

Example: Rare launched the world’s first Small-Scale Fisheries Impact Bond to channel private and philanthropic capital toward revitalizing and  managing coastal communities and ecosystems sustainably. The Bond’s pilot will establish five new areas of ocean to be co-managed sustainably by local communities in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.  

Individual financial identities

Rare helps community members establish their financial identity, build savings, and track financial transactions—opening the doorway to formal financial services.

Example: Rare has designed and piloted a digital ledger app to capture and digitize every transaction in each of the 500 savings clubs we support.

Indemnity and parametric insurance

Rare designs and deploys different insurance products to help cover local communities from the financial fallout of climate change. Whether it’s traditional indemnity insurance or innovative parametric insurance, Rare works with financial institutions, insurance providers, and communities to meet the needs of fisher households.

Example: In the Philippines Rare partnered with local insurance providers to offer two policies as part of a pilot that aimed for 500 participants, but resulted in 4,000 enrolled policy holders.  

Example (parametric insurance): Rare designed and piloted a first of a kind parametric insurance solution for fishers in the Philippines to combat income losses from prolonged periods of adverse weather conditions which prevent safe fishing. The pilot is sized to provide protection to 50,000 registered fishers.   

Natural climate solutions

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) are conservation, restoration, and improved land management actions that store carbon or avoid greenhouse gas emissions across forests, wetlands, grasslands, and agricultural lands. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) go beyond NCS to include non-terrestrial ecosystem climate action, as well as Blue and Terrestrial Carbon. When implemented effectively, these natural climate solutions drive financial resources to local communities who sustainably manage these vital resources.

Example: In Mozambique’s Nampula province, Rare is using a community-based, behavior-centered campaign to build support for protecting mangroves and seagrass beds as key climate change-fighting ecosystems.