Improving Disaster Risk Financing Planning and Payout Processes in Africa

As a specialized agency of the African Union, the African Risk Capacity (ARC) works with African governments to improve their ability to plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters by providing technical capacity support and sovereign pooled risk insurance. In this way, ARC helps to link early disaster funding to robust contingency plans, resulting in greater livelihood and assets savings for beneficiaries.

In 2019, severe drought conditions in Senegal triggered a $23.1 million ARC payout on insurance policies held by the Government of Senegal (GoS) and the Start Network, a consortium of humanitarian and development assistance non-governmental organizations (NGOs).  The payout supported food and cash distributions to drought-affected households; the sale of subsidized animal feed; the distribution of food supplements to lactating and pregnant women and to children six months to five years of age; and various hygiene and nutrition awareness-raising activities. 

ARC commissioned Kimetrica to conduct an independent process evaluation to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the planned interventions based on the interventions’ implementation. The process evaluation focused on the GoS’s and Start Network’s operations and delivery of approved implementation plans, providing valuable insights on program reach, implementation quality, and beneficiary satisfaction. 

Kimetrica’s process evaluation found that the planned payout process in Senegal started off well, with timely development of implementation plans containing high-quality technical analysis and inputs -- an improvement from a previous ARC payout in Senegal. However, with the advent of COVID-19, the GoS and Start Network had to modify their planned intervention activities, as targeting and implementation were delayed and, in some cases, revised to fit the newly emerging circumstances.  With ARC approval, the funds intended to support GoS intervention activities were subsumed by Senegal’s larger COVID-19 Response Plan to reach a larger set of beneficiaries.  The Start Network followed its original implementation plan while accommodating for the new social and health restrictions.  For example, COVID-19 sensitization messaging and health and sanitation awareness activities were folded  into previously planned awareness activities. 

Rice Distribution in Diourbel Senegal during Kimetrica's review of the ARC’s contingency planning process in 2015

One area Kimetrica  explored during the process evaluation was the level of gender inclusiveness in the GoS’s and Start Network’s response planning and execution. Kimetrica found that while women were involved in the local, regional, and national planning and distribution processes, they rarely held management and decision-making roles.  Based on this finding, ARC is considering new ways to facilitate  women’s involvement in decision-making to help ensure that women’s specific needs are considered  across  all intervention activities.   

Through the process evaluation, Kimetrica provided ARC with valuable insights about the insurance payout process. For instance, perception surveys confirmed beneficiary satisfaction with ARC funding  in helping disaster-affected populations, allowing households to avoid selling assets and livestock, prevent migration for work, and improve daily food consumption. Kimetrica not only identified key areas in which GoS and Start Network could learn from each other – an important goal specified by ARC – but also presented ARC with overall lessons learned to support long-term improvements of future payout processes.

About Kimetrica

Kimetrica provides research, evaluation, survey, information management, and modeling and simulation services for evidence-based decision-making and learning. Kimetrica works with governments and non-profit organizations to increase the impact and efficiency of their social investments, enhance accountability, manage critical risks, and build donor or taxpayer confidence. Kimetrica has successfully managed IDIQ mechanisms and more than 100 analytical and support activities, primarily in East Africa but also around the world. Kimetrica has offices in Broomfield, Colorado; Washington DC; Nairobi, Kenya; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.