Executive Summary
In 2014, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) reached over 26,000 farmers, helping them to improve the way they manage risks to their livelihoods and food security. Building on a foundation of concrete disaster risk reduction activities, R4 extended drought insurance to 24,143 farmers in Ethiopia and 1,989 farmers in Senegal. At the end of the 2014 agricultural season, farmers in Ethiopia and Senegal received payouts of $38,116 ($34,187 in Ethiopia and $3,929 in Senegal). The year 2014 also marked the launch of the initiative in Malawi and Zambia with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
One of the most significant results from 2014 was the finalization of the first impact evaluation of the first 4 years of implementation of the Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation (HARITA) project, the initial pilot that catalyzed the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative. Adding to the evidence produced through this evaluation, a number of studies including a process evaluation of Senegal’s risk reduction component, the baseline surveys in the expansion zones in Ethiopia, and an assessment of gender mainstreaming in R4 Senegal added to the growing evidence base on the impact of R4.
R4’s learning agenda will remain a central priority in 2015, when an impact evaluation for R4 Senegal and baselines for Malawi and Zambia will be conducted. The R4 team will also develop new learning tools, such as the R4 implementation guidelines, a study on basis risk, and a cost-benefit analysis of R4’s effectiveness.
