2 billion smallholder farmers depend on rain for their daily agricultural activities. OKO provides these farmers with an affordable and efficient insurance against droughts and excessive rainfall. OKO's insurance products are leveraging on the latest mobile and satellite technologies for remote payments and claim verification. This will unlock an enormous business opportunity

Problem addressed:
Smallholder farmers produce more than 50% of the world’s food. Despite that, crop insurance is not currently offered to smallholder farmers. This means that this population is highly vulnerable to weather conditions. This is a barrier to development, as a bad year can lead a whole family to financial distress. It also discourages farmers from investing in their business and taking new risks. The absence of insurance also deprives farmers of financing: banks and micro-finance institutions are unwilling to provide loans at good rates, knowing that adverse weather conditions can lead the farmers to default.

Solution proposed:
OKO provides smallholder farmers in emerging nations with an insurance to protect them against drought and excessive rainfall.
Insurance companies are currently unable to offer attractive products to smallholder farmers, as the administrative cost (distribution, premium collection, claim verifications and payment) is too high in comparison to the amount covered. But new technologies including index insurance and mobile payment make it possible to disrupt the insurance products and create solutions adapted to the reality of the market.

OKO's innovations:
- Paperless, mobile-based registration: OKO agents and indirect re-sellers register farmers on a phone and offer them to pay for the insurance via mobile money or mobile banking. They can manage their policy from any device using USSD menus
- Remote weather monitoring: OKO monitors rainfall remotely, using satellite data to have a precise and cost-effective assessment of the expected yield.
- Automated payment via mobile money: Claim payments are automatically made based on the monitored rainfall. Claim amounts are disbursed on users’ mobile wallets, which offer security and convenience, on top of being cost-efficient.
- Big Data analysis: by analysing rainfall/humidity and the crop production, OKO is able to define best practices to help farmers improve their productivity and reduce their risks. more