The Samoa government has launched a new form of insurance to help residents cope with natural disasters.
Put together by Samoa Surety Insurance Ltd aid by the UN Capital Development Fund, the new parametric insurance aims to build disaster resilience and preparedness for Samoan people against increasingly frequent climate hazards.
Parametric insurance describes a type of insurance contract that insures a policyholder against the occurrence of a specific event by paying a set amount based on the magnitude of the event, as opposed to the extent of losses in a traditional indemnity policy.
The brainchild of the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme over the last two years, the scheme has been made available in Fiji, Tonga, Vanuatu and now Samoa's insurance industry to develop the market.
The minister for agriculture and fisheries Laauli Leuatea Polataivao Fosi helped launch the pilot scheme.
He said it will be a key tool among the targeted financial solutions Samoa is providing to reduce the impact of extreme weather events.
"Cyclonic winds have devasted people's homes and investments and upended entire livelihoods. Innovative instruments like parametric insurance can provide people with
a means to cope better with these impacts.
"The injection of funds to cater for immediate needs like food, water, home repairs and so on will also create more resilient communities," he said.
The minister said "my ministry is committed to ensuring the Samoa citizens, especially the underserved adult populations, farmers and fishers, have access to appropriate financial services".