The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2015–2024
Pula insures smallholder harvests by betting on the district, not the field
Instead of inspecting every plot, Pula pays out when a zone's satellite-measured yields miss their historical average — cheap enough for smallholders.
Pula Advisors
the move
Pula was founded in 2015 by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru to insure the smallholders traditional insurers ignored; by its own count it has since protected $2.6 billion in agricultural investment across 22 countries and paid out $133.9 million to farmers.
Its core product, Area Yield Index Insurance, compares end-of-season yields against a pre-set historical average for each agro-ecological zone, using satellite, rainfall and yield data. When yields fall below the benchmark — due to drought, floods or pests — affected farmers automatically receive payouts, with registration handled through a mobile app that scales to millions.
Because payouts trigger on the zone rather than the plot, there are no field inspections. The ILO's ACCEL Africa project partnered with Pula and AGRA in 2024 to insure 1,000 Malian cotton farmers against climate shocks, combining satellite and historical data with financial and non-financial support.
why it works
- No adjuster visits, so claims cost almost nothing.
- Satellite data prices risk where no actuarial history exists.
- Bundling with inputs makes enrollment nearly frictionless.
- Zone-level triggers keep moral hazard low.
what transfers
Index insurance removes verification and per-plot pricing: pay out automatically when a region's measured yield misses its benchmark, and accept basis risk as the price of scale.
what came after
Pula grew from one Kenya pilot into a platform used across Africa and Asia, partnering with reinsurers, insurers and governments; by 2026 it reported 20.1 million farmers insured and 875.6 million data points collected, and it expanded beyond insurance into EU deforestation compliance and farm-data services.
references
- Products & Services (Area Yield Index Insurance)
- About | Pula
- Agricultural insurance at the heart of climate resilience in Mali
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