On 8th September 2026, Agricom Assurance had the privilege of participating in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Global Insurance Innovators Community (GIIC) Knowledge Exchange Series on Advancing Gender-Responsive Insurance Innovation. The webinar brought together insurance innovators, development partners, regulators, and industry leaders from across the world to share practical experiences in designing insurance solutions that better serve women and other underserved populations.
Representing Agricom Assurance, our Founder and CEO, Derrick Awumey, shared the story behind Agricom's mission and the lessons we have learned while building climate-smart financial protection solutions for smallholder farmers across Ghana. If We Can Insure Cars, Why Not Farmers? Derrick opened his presentation with a simple but powerful question: "If we can insure our cars, insure our homes, and even insure our bicycles, then why can't we insure the people who feed us?" This question lies at the heart of Agricom's mission. The idea for Agricom was born from personal experience. Growing up in a farming community in Ghana, Derrick spent countless hours working alongside his mother on their family farm. Like many farming households, the family's livelihood depended entirely on the success of each farming season. However, one season, disaster struck. A single adverse weather event wiped out their harvest, leaving the family without income and forcing them to navigate significant financial hardship. As Derrick looked around his community, he realized that his family's experience was not unique. It was the reality faced by millions of smallholder farmers who remain highly vulnerable to climate-related risks such as droughts, floods, pests, and disease outbreaks. Women: The Backbone of Agriculture One of the key themes highlighted during the webinar was the need to intentionally design insurance solutions that respond to the realities of women. Across many agricultural communities, women play a critical role in food production and household livelihoods. They cultivate crops, manage farms, support agricultural value chains, and contribute significantly to food security. Yet women continue to face disproportionate challenges, including: Greater exposure to climate-related risks Limited access to finance and credit Barriers to land ownership and productive assets Lower access to insurance products Seasonal and irregular income patterns Traditional financial and insurance products are often not designed with these realities in mind. As a result, many women remain excluded from the very protection mechanisms that could help them recover from shocks and build resilience. What We Learned from Women Farmers Through years of engaging directly with farming communities, Agricom discovered that affordability was not always the biggest barrier to insurance adoption. Trust was. Many women farmers viewed insurance as complicated, inaccessible, or unreliable. Before discussing products, it was necessary to build relationships, educate communities, and demonstrate value. We also learned that flexibility matters. Most women farmers earn seasonal incomes that fluctuate throughout the year. Traditional insurance models with rigid payment structures often fail to align with these realities. Perhaps most importantly, women consistently told us that they wanted more than crop protection. They wanted security. They wanted resilience. They wanted confidence that their families could withstand future uncertainties. Building Solutions Around Farmers These insights shaped the development of Agricom's digital ecosystem, which combines climate-smart insurance, satellite-based farm monitoring, GPS mapping, advisory services, and access to agricultural finance. At the center of this ecosystem is our Farmer Management System (FMS), which enables us to better understand farmers' needs, assess risks, and deliver tailored support through mobile technology and agent-assisted channels. The webinar also provided an opportunity to discuss FarmerCare, Agricom's integrated protection solution designed to help farmers manage risks today while building long-term financial security for the future. Our approach is guided by a simple principle: Insurance should adapt to farmers, not the other way around. Looking Ahead As climate risks continue to intensify across Africa, the need for inclusive and gender-responsive financial protection has never been greater. At Agricom Assurance, we believe that women must be at the center of insurance innovation. Building products that respond to their realities is not only the right thing to do it is essential for creating resilient communities, strengthening food systems, and advancing financial inclusion. The future of insurance will not be defined solely by technology. It will be defined by how well we listen, how deeply we understand our customers, and how intentionally we design solutions that meet people where they are. We are grateful to UNDP's Global Insurance Innovators Community for creating a platform that brings together innovators from around the world to share lessons, inspire collaboration, and accelerate inclusive insurance solutions. Together, we can build a future where no farmer is left unprotected. About Agricom Assurance Agricom Assurance is a Ghana-based insurtech company leveraging climate intelligence, satellite technology, digital innovation, and strategic partnerships to provide insurance, advisory services, and financial inclusion solutions for smallholder farmers across Africa. Our mission is to build resilience, improve livelihoods, and ensure that every farmer has access to the protection they deserve.
