CLIENT II-Project is convincing Uzbek government on importance of index based insurance against climate risks

The project “Increasing climate resilience via agricultural insurance – Innovation transfer for sustainable rural development in Central Asia” (KlimALEZ) aims at introduction of index-based agricultural insurance program for various Central Asian countries. The project is financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) via “CLIENT II - International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovation” funding line. The project is developing innovative index insurance products against climate risks such as drought based on information obtained from satellites.

The project follows a Research-Business-Policy approach where scientific results are implemented in cooperation with business partners and various government agencies. One of the achievements of the project is piloting index-based insurance in cooperation with Tashkent State Economic University (TSEU) and GROSS Insurance company in Uzbekistan.  German and local scientists are using several forms in communicating the research results to government agencies. An Insurance Lab is established at TSEU with the support of IAMO, which tests new products in laboratory conditions and implements technologies which were found suitable for the local environment.

Ihtiyor Bobojonov, IAMO senior scientist and co-coordinator of the Insurance Lab, said, “We are glad that activities of the project already raised government interest. This in turn motivates us to be more innovative and responsible to identify good solutions that contribute to developments in the insurance sector in the country.”