Promoting Food Security in a
Volatile Climate:
Micro-Insurance protection for

Senegalese farmers

2010 CWiC Emerging Scholar Talk
Laura Boudreau
B.S. Economics, Wharton C’10
Developing countries with large rural populations that work in agriculture
are especially vulnerable to climatic variability and natural catastrophes.
In recent years, there have been increasing trends of both climatic
variability and natural catastrophe incidence around the world, and these
trends are expected to continue and to intensify as the planet warms. West
Africa, and specifically Senegal, is already one of the most food insecure
regions of the world; improving farmers’ yields and increasing their
resilience to climatic disasters is imperative to enabling them to adapt to
the impacts of climate change. Socially-focused agricultural insurance
programs are a primary component of a portfolio of complementary
strategies that can facilitate this adaptation. In Senegal, a comprehensive,
goal-oriented, and long-term strategy that integrates agricultural insurance
with other tools such as access to credit, farmer education, and agricultural
market development can improve farmers’ resilience to climatic disasters
and promote adaptation to climate change.
Wednesday, April 21st
6:00-7:30- p.m.
Stiteler Hall B21
Photo Credit: Clare Major