RESULTSTORIES
GLOBAL INDEX
I N S U R A N C E FA C I L I T Y
                                                                   BURKINA FASO

 AGRI-FINANCE TAKES MAJOR LEAPS IN
 BURKINA FASO
 “Farming in Burkina can be very challenging. Uncertain
 weather conditions can have severely damaging impact on
 harvests and the ability of smallholder farmers to continue
 farming,” says Sou Campaore, a 42-year old cotton farmer
 from Houndé, a farming village just outside Dedougou,
 a city in the western corridor of Burkina Faso. “Since the
 income from such an unpredictable harvest is not steady,
 we don’t get access to capital in order to implement more
 efficient farming practices and purchase better inputs. A bad
 season can also have a telling effect on the health and social
 position of smallholder farmers.”
                                                                   Photo Credit: Nitin Nambiar

 The Opportunity
 Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in the heart of West Africa. Covering an area of 264,000 square kilometers,
 agriculture comprises the single largest economic sector, employing over 80 percent of the working population and
 contributingover 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

 The Global Index Insurance Facility (GIIF) partnered with the PlaNet Guarantee (PG) in 2011 to develop weather index
 insurance products for maize and area yield insurance products for cotton. Created in 2007, PG is a microfinance
 services provider based in France and offering innovative products responding to the needs of farmers and micro-
 entrepreneurs across West African markets, including Burkina Faso, Benin, Senegal and Mali.

 PG began its operations in Burkina Faso in 2010 partnered with GIIF in 2011. Within three years of its partnership with
 GIIF, which included a grant and advisory support on market building, product development, and technical services,
 PG has succeeded in enrolling over 8,200 farmers to its two flagship products covering maize and cotton farms.

 The Challenge
 Agriculture in Burkina Faso is relatively under-financed with the majority of banks and large MFIs reluctant to finance
 agriculture through small cooperatives. To further complicate issues, input loans are usually disbursed too late for the
 planting season leading to a late sowing phase for farmers and higher risk exposure.




                                                                                                     www.worldbank.orgN C E / FA
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RESULTSTORIES: B U R K I N A FA S O




 Approach
 GIIF’s approach in Burkina Faso has been three-pronged. It has supported organizations such as PG through
 grantee partnership, enabling PG to do more insightful feasibility studies and develop relevant index products in-
 house and with external partners. The second approach has involved developing relationships with all the major
 farmer cooperatives in the country. These include partnerships with the Union of Producers of Cotton in Burkina
 Faso (UNPCB) and Society of Fibres and Textiles (SOFITEX), the two largest cooperatives for cotton farmers. These
 partnerships have enabled PG to expand its member base significantly in the past three years. In addition to these
 two approaches, GIIF has supported PG in Burkina Faso to improve farmer access to capital through partnerships
 with local and regional banks providing agricultural credit, such as Ecobank. Through its partnership with GIIF, PG has
 been able to develop a strong partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture in Burkina Faso, further helping scaling up
 of index insurance products in the country.

 Beneficiary Impact
 Campaore enrolled on an index insurance product through PG in 2012. Affirming its value, he says, “Of late, we have
 seen the harvest season shifting, which could have led to a major loss of investment on seeds and fertilizers. However,
 because of the insurance cover, I was able to limit my losses and continue farming,” he says.

 In 2014, over 51,218,892 Central African Francs (CFA) (~$ 97,500) of claims were distributed to farmers insured
 through PG. Nearly 88 percent of this compensation was in Burkina Faso and Senegal alone. In Burkina Faso alone,
 the claims paid out were CFA 13,291,113 (~$ 25,500).

 “Now that I have the benefit of this insurance, I am able to purchase better quality of inputs, and the savings will also
 help buy more land for farming. As farmers, our conditions and challenges are the same across Burkina Faso. I’m
 sure all farmers can benefit as much from this security net as me so I would definitely recommend it to everyone,”
 Campaore says.



                                                            KEY FIGURES
   n	   Agriculture employs over 80 percent of the economically active population in Burkina Faso, with over 50 percent engaged in
        smallholder agriculture

   n	   Agriculture is also the single largest contributor to GDP (over 40 percent)

   n	   Main crops are tea, coffee, produce, corn, potatoes, bananas, beans and peas

   n	   GIIF, through its partner, has succeeded in enrolling over 8,200 farmers in Burkina Faso into index insurance programs as of July 2014

   n	   Total GIIF/PG insurance portfolio in Burkina Faso: $ 672,609 (as of July 2014)




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