Aon plc, a UK-based global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, announced on Monday it has partnered with Oxfam in Sri Lanka, the organization working to alleviate poverty; and Etherisc, the insurtech startup developing a protocol for decentralized insurance applications, to launch a blockchain-based agricultural insurance policies for smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka.
According to Anon, almost 200 farmers have already enrolled in the solution that delivers micro-insurance to smallholder paddy field farmers in Sri Lanka, who are at risk of losing their crops due to extreme weather. While sharing more details, Bojan Kolundzija, the Country Director of Oxfam in Sri Lanka, stated;
“Oxfam in Sri Lanka expertise in climate-smart agriculture and our long-standing engagement with farmer communities, provides us with in-depth knowledge about the opportunities and challenges that farmers have to climate and weather events. Allowing farmers to access the blockchain platform is an important milestone that is bringing an effective and affordable risk transfer mechanism to a large portion of the Sri Lanka economy.”
Hugo Wegbrans, the Global Chief Broking Officer for Aon, also commented:
“Strong collaboration, such as this initiative with Oxfam and Etherisc, allows us to broaden the potential positive impact we can have on people, families and small businesses around the globe. At the heart of our work is a mission to empower economic and human possibility – and that is exactly what we are doing here.”
Michiel Berende, the Chief Inclusive Officer at Etherisc, then added:
“Farmers represent a third of the workforce and account for almost 20 percent of the economy, yet very few have insurance. This made Sri Lanka a perfect candidate to feel the benefits of decentralized, collaborative and automated insurance. This alliance is really a cooperation between all and showcases blockchain for social good.”