Abstract & Pedagogical Objectives
Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) was developed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) to insure vulnerable pastoralists in Kenya and Ethiopia, who often lose their primary asset– livestock– to the region’s severe droughts.
IBLI has proven to have a substantial positive impact on the asset base and consumption activities of its intended beneficiaries, however, IBLI’s uptake has been lower than expected. This is despite its ability to deliver crucial social and economic returns to a population that has been traditionally neglected by financial services firms.
This case study asks students to develop a growth strategy for IBLI. It focuses on the need for establishing Index-based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) in locations with large populations of pastoralists, and the challenges and opportunities emerging from such a program.
Students will consider various pressures from the market, governments, donors and partners faced by an organization running a socially beneficial, financial program. They will also explore when and how such a product should grow to scale, and the role that donor interests play in determining the direction of nonprofit projects.
This case has been developed as part of a Microfinance course in an MBA with an interest in management of international organizations and NGOs. Nevertheless, it would also be a good option for a range of courses, including classes dealing with social entrepreneurship, “Financial services for the bottom of the pyramid (BoP), or simply introductory finance classes dealing with insurance, etc.
How to Use website
For faculty
We are very pleased that you have chosen the IBLI Case Study for your course. In order to make the teaching process as smooth and easy as possible we have put together some tools with faculty in mind. Registration and login is required to ensure that these materials remain in the hands of the teacher only.
- A Teaching Note
- An Intro video to the IBLI Case Study
- A video of the case study being taught, broken into segments that correspond to the lesson plan in the teaching note
- All IBLI related publications, videos, and pictures
Furthermore, if you have any questions and/or difficulties using these materials, you are welcome to contact Dr. Iddo Dror at IBLICaseStudy@cgiar.org
For Students
We highly encourage you to spend 30-45 minutes watching a few short videos and reading the notable publications in The Economist and The Guardian. These background documents will help you to get a better feel for what a pastoralist is and to understand why livestock and livestock keeping are so important to them. The videos will also allow you to see the kind of environments where IBLI is being sold so you can better grasp the difficulties and challenges described in the case study.