Bayer Foundation and Kenyan agricultural insurtech Pula plan to insure 10 mn smallholder farmers in Africa.
by 2030. This initiative protects farmers from climate risks like droughts and floods, which threaten harvests, incomes, and food security. It also aims to expand public-private partnerships and reshape agricultural insurance in Africa and Asia.
Pula Foundation provides data-driven agricultural insurance to protect smallholder farmers’ investments. Its solutions help farmers recover from extreme weather losses, secure financial support, and reinvest in farming.
Bayer Foundation will grant €10 mn to subsidize insurance premiums, enabling coverage worth $127 mn in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malawi, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and Mali. This funding comes from Bayer’s Social Innovation Ecosystem Fund, which backs high-impact solutions for underserved communities.
The partnership builds on a previous Zimbabwean project. In 2021, Bayer Foundation and Pula Foundation worked with Zimbabwe’s government to launch an insurance program for farmers in the Conservation Agriculture Program. Initially covering 31,000 farmers, it grew to over 1 mn within three years, proving the effectiveness of scaling public-private insurance solutions.
Smallholder farmers are already facing severe impacts from climate change, and the situation will worsen in the years ahead. We must empower them to continue feeding their communities and contribute to global food security.
Matthias Berninger, Bayer’s Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Science, and Sustainability
FAO data shows 2.33 bn people faced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2023. Smallholder farmers produce over half the food in low- and middle-income countries but struggle with limited climate adaptation tools, agricultural inputs, credit, and insurance.
Rose Goslinga, Director of Pula Foundation, underscored insurance’s role beyond recovery: “It’s about dignity and empowerment. Insurance lets farmers prepare for climate shocks instead of waiting for aid. Farmers with proper support rebound stronger.” She noted that partnering with Bayer Foundation will expand Pula’s reach, securing livelihoods and improving climate resilience.
This collaboration aims to scale insurance solutions, strengthen agriculture, and improve food security for millions of farmers in Africa and Asia.
Pula is an agricultural insurance and technology company that designs and provides innovative insurance and digital solutions to help smallholder farmers manage yield risks, improve their farming practices, and increase their incomes over time.
insurtech Pula has sequred $20 mn Series B funding round, led by BlueOrchard, to help thousands of smallholder farmers in emerging markets gain access to insurance against floods, droughts, and other climate-related events.
Pula raised a $6 mn Series A round back in 2021, and has now banked a $20 mn Series B round that will enable Pula to scale its operations and significantly expand its reach over the next five years.
By bundling insurance with other essential products like seeds and credit, Pula is making insurance more affordable and accessible than ever before.
Founded in 2015 by Rose Goslinga and Thomas Njeru, Pula aims to mitigate risks for farmers and help secure their livelihoods against environmental challenges that affect crop yields, such as droughts, floods, and pest infestations.
“Their digital platform has enabled them to expand into new geographies with ease and efficiency, all while keeping setup costs low. The Pula team has an unrivaled track record in the agricultural insurance space and is deeply aligned with our mission and strategy,” said Richard Hardy, private equity investment director for Africa at BlueOrchard.
“When Thomas and I launched Pula in 2015, we had one goal in mind – to build and deliver scalable insurance solutions for Africa’s 700 million smallholder farmers, and with our latest funding, now is the time to break into new ground. In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products but the fact remains that across Africa and other emerging markets, there are still millions of smallholder farmers with risks to their livelihoods that have not been covered,” Rose Goslinga said.
