The African Development Bank Group has signed a $997,000 grant with the Agriculture and Climate Risk Enterprise (ACRE Africa) to expand climate-smart insurance for smallholder farmers in Tanzania, with the project expected to benefit 300,000 farmers across 15 regions of the country.The grant, provided through the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI), will help farmers protect their livelihoods against growing climate-related risks, including unpredictable weather conditions that can damage crops and reduce agricultural incomes, under a project titled ‘Bridging the Agricultural Risk Protection Gap to Scale Climate Smart Insurance’. The $997,000 contribution from ADFI will be complemented by an in-kind contribution of $437,000 from ACRE Africa, bringing total project financing to approximately $1.43 million.
The project will develop digital systems to simplify farmer registration, insurance premium collection, agricultural monitoring and claims processing, making insurance services easier to access and manage, with insurance services distributed through community-based agents and partnerships with financial institutions, agricultural input suppliers and businesses that purchase farmers’ produce. The initiative will introduce digital insurance solutions and financial services designed to make agricultural protection more accessible to rural communities facing difficulties obtaining traditional insurance coverage.
Through this partnership with ADFI, ACRE Africa aims to scale innovations that make climate-smart insurance and financial inclusion more accessible for farmers across Tanzania, combining insurance with data analytics to support stakeholders across the agricultural value chain to make informed decisions. The project’s focus includes improving access to climate risk insurance, strengthening agricultural productivity and expanding financial opportunities for women and young people who contribute significantly to the country’s agricultural workforce.
ACRE Africa, a subsidiary of ZEP-RE PTA Reinsurance, is a data- and technology-driven risk management solutions designer that links stakeholders to localized solutions such as insurance and climate change adaptation strategies aimed at reducing agricultural and climate-related risks, with a physical presence in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zambia, Nigeria and Zimbabwe and operations in 17 countries across Africa. In 2024, ACRE Africa insured over 120,000 farmers in Tanzania, with these policies paying out over $1 million in climate claims to smallholder farmers.
The grant agreement was signed on October 28th, 2026 at the African Development Bank’s East Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya, bringing together representatives of the Bank and ACRE Africa, with the combined investment supporting the expansion of climate-smart insurance services and digital financial systems designed to improve agricultural resilience and financial inclusion. The initiative builds on ACRE Africa’s existing footprint in Tanzania and its broader efforts to expand index-based insurance products across the continent.
The grant comes as part of a wider set of African Development Bank initiatives aimed at strengthening climate resilience and disaster risk management across Africa, including a $6 million grant approved in October 2025 to support the African Risk Capacity (ARC) in boosting disaster preparedness and risk financing across the continent. The Bank has also approved a $9 million grant to boost climate resilience in Tanzania’s Mkondoa catchment, reflecting a sustained commitment to supporting the country’s adaptation and resilience efforts.
The challenge now is to ensure that the digital systems and insurance products developed under the project reach the intended 300,000 farmers across 15 regions, with the project’s success dependent on effective partnerships with community-based agents, financial institutions and agricultural value chain actors.
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