Innovations in Risk Transfer for Natural Disasters in Lower-Income Countries (Jerry Skees, University of Kentucky and Barry Barnett, Uni- versity of Georgia, Organizers)

Innovations in risk transfer for natural disasters in lower-income countries, in particular weather index insurance products, can be used to shift various weather-related risks. This article discusses the linkage between weather risk and poverty; provides background information on weather index insurance products; describes requirements for the implementation of weather index insurance and possible roles for governments, donors, and international financial institutions in facilitating implementation; and briefly reviews recent efforts to provide weather index insurance products in rural areas of some middleand lower-income countries.