Drought Risk Information for the African Finance Sector (DRIAFS)

干旱对2亿多非洲农民构成持续威胁，使他们陷入贫困，阻碍国家发展。基于天气的指数保险（WII）和基于预测的金融（FbF）等金融服务可以提供安全网，在预期的干旱期间提供作物保险或财政援助，使农民能够购买粮食、牲畜和种子等关键资源。然而，准确捕获地面条件的数据对于有效实施WII和FbF至关重要。虽然基于TAMSAT降雨的产品已被广泛使用（每年有100万农民使用TAMSAT数据投保），但它们并不总是与农民的经验相符。TAMSAT近乎实时的土壤湿度监测和预报服务可以解决这个问题，前提是金融部门有足够的知识和能力来利用这些数据。此外，WII和FbF的社会效益受到一个更广泛的问题的阻碍：妇女领导的家庭获得这些服务的机会有限。然而，现在有机会弥合这一差距。尽管在获取传统农业推广服务方面仍然存在性别差异，但在移动电话获取方面的差距已经缩小。包容性移动服务有可能扩大以妇女为户主的家庭获得服务的机会，从而减少在获取干旱管理工具和信息方面的不平等。随着最近引入新的土壤湿度数据集，有机会更新TAMSAT的数据提供方法，旨在加强对所有TAMSAT产品的公平访问。在DRIAFS，我将领导一项活动方案，为金融部门提供知识、工具和信心，使他们能够开发和实施基于土壤湿度的金融服务，同时为女性农民提供更多获得此类服务的机会。为此，我将利用TAMSAT新的可操作的根系深度土壤湿度数据集。作为TAMSAT土壤湿度和降雨监测服务的首席开发人员，我是承担这项工作的理想人选。知识的转移将以一个由从业者设计的工具箱为基础，该工具箱将减少获取干旱信息方面的技术挑战。完整的工具箱将使金融服务提供商能够获得土壤湿度和其他干旱数据，而移动友好版本将使农民能够访问量身定制的干旱信息，使他们能够独立验证金融产品所基于的干旱数据。提供更有针对性的金融产品，加上容易获得的卫星干旱信息，将增加女性农民与金融部门之间的信任，从而促进人们接受基于土壤湿度的金融服务。DRIAFS将与一组金融服务提供商合作，这些金融服务提供商是非洲金融部门的领导者，我与其中一些人建立了牢固的关系。我将为该项目带来十多年来在开发卫星气候服务方面的经验，以及在促进非洲金融、农业和人道主义援助领域的合作方面的经验。项目合作伙伴在获得农业金融服务方面的性别差距方面的丰富经验将有助于指导该项目，确保TAMSAT服务更好地针对女性主导的家庭，重要的是，将加深我个人对性别因素的理解，这将有利于本项目以及未来的TAMSAT气候服务。总而言之，DRIAFS将建设非洲金融部门的能力，以开发公平获取的产品，有力地识别干旱条件。与非洲领先的从业者建立伙伴关系将使基于土壤湿度的金融产品迅速进入市场，并为数百万农民提供保险，从而实现更公平的支付和更好的抗旱保护。

Drought poses an ongoing threat to over 200 million African farmers, trapping them in poverty and hindering national development. Financial services like weather-based index insurance (WII) and forecast-based finance (FbF) can offer a safety net by providing crop insurance or financial aid during anticipated drought periods, enabling farmers to purchase crucial resources like food, livestock, and seeds. However, data that accurately captures on-ground conditions is essential for effective implementation of WII and FbF. While TAMSAT rainfall-based products have been widely used (>3M farmers insured annually using TAMSAT data), they don't always align with farmers' experiences. TAMSAT's near real-time soil moisture monitoring and forecasting service could address this issue, provided there is sufficient knowledge and capacity within the financial sector to exploit the data.The societal benefit of WII and FbF has, moreover, been hindered by a broader issue: the limited access to these services among households led by women. However, there is now a chance to bridge this gap. Although there remains a gender disparity in accessing traditional agricultural extension services, the gap in mobile phone access has narrowed. Inclusive mobile services hold the potential to broaden the availability of services for households led by women, thus reducing the inequality in accessing drought management tools and information. With the recent introduction of a new soil moisture dataset, there is an opportunity to refresh TAMSAT's data provision approach, aiming to enhance equitable access to all TAMSAT products.Within DRIAFS, I will lead a programme of activities that will give the financial sector the knowledge, tools and confidence to allow them to develop and implement soil moisture-based financial services while providing female farmers with greater opportunities to access such services. For this, I will exploit TAMSAT's new operational rooting-depth soil moisture dataset. As lead developer of the TAMSAT soil moisture and rainfall monitoring services, I am ideally placed to undertake this work.The transfer of knowledge will be underpinned by a practitioner-designed toolbox that will reduce technical challenges in accessing drought information. The full toolbox will enable financial service providers access to soil moisture and other drought data while a mobile-friendly version will give farmers the ability to access tailored drought information, allowing them to independently verify the drought data that the financial products are based on. The provision of better targeted financial products combined with easily accessible satellite-based drought information will increase trust between women farmers and the financial sector, thereby promoting buy-in of soil moisture-based financial services.DRIAFS will partner with a group of financial service providers who are leaders within the African financial sector, some of whom I have established strong relationships with. I will bring to the project over a decade of experience in developing satellite-based climate services and experience in fostering collaborations within the finance, agricultural and humanitarian aid sectors in Africa. The depth of experience amongst the project partners on the gender gap in access to agricultural financial services will help guide the project to ensure that TAMSAT services better target female-led households and importantly, will develop my personal understanding of gender considerations which will benefit this project as well as future TAMSAT climate services.In summary, DRIAFS will build the capacity of the African financial sector to develop equitable access products that robustly identify drought conditions. Partnership with leading practitioners in Africa will enable soil moisture-based financial products to rapidly reach market and provide cover to millions of farmers, resulting in fairer pay outs and better protection against drought.