The Navarra Center for International Development (NCID), of the Institute of Culture and Society (ICS) of the University of Navarra, has recently signed a cooperation agreement with the Non-Government Organization “Fundación para el Desarrollo Productivo y Financiero PROFIN” which is based in La Paz, Bolivia. The agreement seeks to establish a cooperation between the two organizations with the aim of undertaking research, implementing projects to promote financial inclusion, and offer innovative products to Bolivia’s low income population.

The agreement formalizes the working relationship that NCID and Fundación PROFIN have shared since mid-2016. Specifically, both organizations are currently working to better understand agricultural insurance programs in Bolivia, and their role in alleviating climate concerns for smallholder farmers, which could incentivize investment and consumption.

In February of this year, NCID researchers traveled to Bolivia, and along with Fundación PROFIN hosted a workshop in La Paz. The topic of the workshop was Climate Risk and Agricultural Insurance. The participants included local researchers, other NGOs that work with smallholder farmers, representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank, the Swiss Cooperation in Bolivia, and government agencies, such as the Ministry of Rural Development and Land, the National Institute of Agricultural Insurance, and the National Statistics Bureau. Also present were representatives from commercial banks and private insurance companies. NCID researchers also had working sessions with the staff at Fundación PROFIN to discuss further cooperation.

Fundación PROFIN and the NCID are now working on the design of an impact evaluation project that will hopefully produce evidence on what affects the uptake of risk-reducing and risk-mitigating financial products for smallholder farmers in Bolivia.