Leadway Assurance has urged the need for stronger and more affordable climate risk solutions to protect Africa's food systems from the impacts of climate change. The insurer made this call at the ninth edition of Agriculture Summit Africa (ASA) 2026, convened by Sterling Bank. The summit brought together industry stakeholders to discuss ways to improve food production, financing, processing, technology, trade, and policy to build stronger agricultural value chains across Africa.
Ayoola Fatona, global head of Agricultural Risk Solutions at Leadway Assurance, identified affordability and trust deficit as major barriers limiting insurance adoption among smallholder farmers. He made these remarks during a panel session titled "Climate Risk Management for Sustainability: Future-Proofing Africa's Food System." Fatona emphasized that addressing these barriers requires stronger partnerships to make insurance more accessible to farmers, particularly those most exposed to climate-related risks.
Fatona highlighted Leadway's efforts to address these challenges by building partnerships with organizations that share its commitment to advancing the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and strengthening their resilience to climate-related risks. Through these collaborations, Leadway has mobilized funding to pre-finance insurance premiums, ensuring that farmers have the necessary protection from the outset of the planting season. This approach has enabled the insurer to significantly expand agricultural insurance coverage.
In the 2025 wet season, Leadway's partnerships enabled the mobilization of over $1.2 million to provide insurance coverage for more than 400,000 farmers. The insurer is continuing to build on this progress. However, Fatona noted that affordability alone would not drive sustained adoption if farmers lacked confidence that insurers would pay claims when losses occur. He emphasized Leadway's commitment to ensuring constant and rapid payouts whenever insured events occur.
The challenge of expanding insurance coverage to smallholder farmers is particularly acute due to their limited financial buffers and vulnerability to weather shocks. For insurers, reaching farmers in remote communities and areas affected by insecurity presents operational challenges. Leadway is responding by deploying remote sensing and other technology-enabled solutions to assess farms virtually and maintain engagement with farmers where physical access is difficult.
The use of technology is expected to help insurers improve risk assessment and expand coverage while reducing some of the costs associated with traditional farm-level assessments. Leadway's participation at the Agriculture Summit Africa 2026 reflects its broader focus on using insurance to protect agricultural investments and strengthen resilience across the food value chain. As African countries seek to increase food production and improve food security, managing climate-related risks will remain critical.
Industry stakeholders emphasize that protecting farmers, agribusinesses, and investments required to expand the sector will depend on effective climate risk management. With climate change increasingly threatening agricultural production, farmer incomes, and investments, Leadway's push for stronger climate risk solutions highlights the need for innovative approaches to address these challenges. The insurer's efforts aim to support the development of more resilient agricultural systems across Africa.
Key points
- Leadway Assurance calls for stronger climate risk solutions to protect Africa's food systems from climate change impacts.
- Affordability and trust deficit are major barriers limiting insurance adoption among smallholder farmers.
- Leadway has mobilized over $1.2 million to provide insurance coverage for more than 400,000 farmers in the 2025 wet season.
