MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroEnsure, PharmAccess Foundation Launch Health Microinsurance for Coffee Growers in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

MicroEnsure, a subsidiary of US-based microfinance network Opportunity International, and PharmAccess Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit that seeks to strengthen health systems in sub-Saharan Africa, have partnered to launch a health plan serving members of the Kilimanjaro Native Cooperative Union (KNCU), a group of coffee growers in the Kilimanjaro region of northern Tanzania.

KNCU is comprised of 67 cooperatives that each have approximately 1,000 members. The health plan program will allow each cooperative to vote on whether or not it should participate in the health plan. Each member of the cooperatives that enroll will be required to pay an annual premium of TZS 12,000 (USD 8) from coffee sales while a further payment of TZS 28,500 (USD 19) will be funded by PharmAccess. MicroEnsure will act as the project administrator.

The pilot was launched in April 2011 with one of KNCU’s cooperatives. The program is expected to reach 250,000 people by the end of 2013.

By: Alexandra Pattee, Research Associate

About MicroEnsure: MicroEnsure was founded in 2005 in the UK as a wholly owned subsidiary of Opportunity International, a US-based nonprofit microfinance network created in 1974. MicroEnsure was known as the Micro Insurance Agency until 2008. As an insurance intermediary, it provides a range of products including health, life, property and weather index-based insurance to 3.5 million poor clients across six countries: Ghana, India, the Philippines, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Sources and Resources:

[1] MicroEnsure Press Release, “MicroEnsure Launches Healthplan with Coffee Growers in Kilimanjaro”, http://microensure.com/news.asp?id=124&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter+-+Issue+11&utm_content=Newsletter+-+Issue+11+CID_4e6931c5c6faa621eb078693d6d4c9c0&utm_source=Email+marketing+software&utm_term=Read+more

MicroCapital.org Article, December 27, 2010, “International Finance Corporation (IFC) Expands Microinsurance in Kenya and Rwanda through Syngenta, International Livestock Research Institute, MicroEnsure”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-international-finance-corporation-ifc-expands-microinsurance-in-kenya-and-rwanda-through-syngenta-international-livestock-research-institute-microensure/

MicroCapital.org Article, January 15, 2010, “WHO’S WHO IN MICROFINANCE: MicroEnsure”, https://www.microcapital.org/who?s-who-in-microfinance-microensure/

MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe: MicroEnsure, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=MicroEnsure

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/