Kenyan farmers to get blockchain-based crop insurance. The Chainlink Community Grant program has announced funding for a low-cost insurance collaboration between Etherisc, a decentralized insurance protocol, and ACRE Africa, a microinsurance issuer focused on the second-most populous continent on the planet.
The project aims to create a blockchain-based insurance platform that offers affordable coverage for the approximately 250,000 smallholder farmers in Kenya, according to an announcement from Chainlink. Many of them are likely to be disproportionately impacted by climate change over the next three years.
The proposed platform would also include payment instalments worth as low as the equivalent of 50 cents in local currencies for insurance policies.
The grant money will be used to fund various aspects of the project, such as the implementation of smart contracts, the creation of a user-friendly front-end for interaction between farmers, the introduction of local payment systems and various other technological innovations.
Additionally, a part of this grant will go towards financing studies related to the economics of insurance for agricultural crops in many African countries, with the goal of determining sustainable coverage models for both insurers and farmers.
“We’re excited to be able to further our work with farmers in East Africa by receiving support through the Chainlink Community grant to help build out and implement a more reliable and cost-effective model for crop insurance with the collaboration of Etherisc,” said the CEO of ACRE Africa, George Kuria.
The project is part of a wider trend of growing interest in blockchain technologies spreading across the African continent. Earlier in the year, the open-source weather technology company Telokanda announced a blockchain project to track the weather in West Africa.
[image: Adams Korir]
