BPP Partnership Impact Series: Weather-proofing agriculture through parametric insurance
Since its launch, the Business Partnerships Platform (BPP) has worked with ambitious partners to deliver meaningful, lasting change in communities across the world. The BPP Partnership Impact Series celebrates the outcomes and lessons from our partnerships, highlighting their contributions to inclusive economic growth, resilience and sustainable development.
Our Climate Adaptation partnerships in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta focused on practical, market-based approaches that help communities adapt to climate change while strengthening livelihoods and ecosystems. This partnership introduced parametric insurance to help farmers manage climate risk, enabling fast, reliable financial support during extreme weather and strengthening resilience across the Mekong Delta.
Weather-proofing agriculture through parametric insurance
Vietnam’s Mekong Delta is one of the most climate-exposed agricultural regions in the world, where increasingly unpredictable rainfall, flooding and extreme weather are placing growing pressure on smallholder farmers.
For many, a single climate shock can result in significant financial loss, with limited access to formal risk protection or financial safety nets. Traditional insurance models are often too complex, costly or slow to respond, leaving farmers vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
This partnership supported the development and testing of parametric insurance. It’s a new approach that uses climate data, such as rainfall levels, to trigger fast, pre-agreed payouts without the need for on-the-ground damage assessments.
By combining climate data, digital platforms and local partnerships, the model provides farmers with timely financial support when extreme weather events occur. This helps stabilise incomes, reduce risk and build confidence to continue investing in their farms.
Through training, product development and partnerships with cooperatives and agri-businesses, the initiative demonstrated how climate risk finance can become a practical and scalable tool for strengthening resilience in the Mekong Delta.
About the partnership
Hillridge, MSIG and the Australian Government partnered through the BPP to design, pilot and scale parametric climate insurance for smallholder farmers in Vietnam.
Delivered across key agricultural regions in the Mekong Delta, the project developed tailored insurance products for crops including rice, shrimp, mango and durian. It combined climate data modelling with digital distribution through agri-finance platforms and strong engagement with cooperatives and local partners.
The partnership focused on building a viable market for climate insurance by strengthening farmer awareness, improving financial literacy, testing subsidy models, and embedding insurance within existing agricultural systems and supply chains.
By working through trusted local networks and corporate partners, the project established a scalable pathway for delivering climate risk protection to large numbers of farmers.
Highlights
Highlights from the BPP partnership included:
- Proving the model through real payouts: 25 parametric insurance policies were triggered following extreme rainfall, delivering fast, reliable financial support to farmers when they needed it most.
- Reaching farmers with climate risk protection: More than 1,200 smallholders were insured, covering over 1,200 hectares of crops across the Mekong Delta.
- Building knowledge and confidence at scale: 6,354 farmers were trained in climate risk and financial literacy, with 90 percent reporting improved understanding.
- Creating a scalable system for delivery: New insurance products were launched across multiple crops and embedded into agri-tech platforms and cooperative networks, creating a pathway to reach up to 200,000 farmers.
- Enabling inclusive uptake and impact: Women made up around 40 percent of policyholders and 60 percent of payout recipients, highlighting strong engagement and benefit.
This partnership is turning climate risk into something farmers can manage. By combining technology, local partnerships and practical delivery, it demonstrates how climate insurance can strengthen resilience, stabilise incomes and support more secure livelihoods across Vietnam’s agricultural sector.
View the full partnership impact story below or download here.
