Investing in crops instead of shares provides insurance for farmers

World Cover is a peer-to-peer lending platform that enables people to invest in farmers who have no access to traditional insurance.

Nine out of ten smallholder farmers are unable to take out insurance on their crops, leaving them incredibly vulnerable to droughts and other weather conditions. If and when natural elements destroy their crop, they have no income to fall back on. Now, World Cover is a peer-to-peer lending platform that enables investors to put their wealth to a good cause and earn returns on an investment that isn’t reliant on the financial system.

World Cover is currently working in Ghana, attempting to provide insurance to 200,000 farmers. Investors start by choosing how much funding they want to put in. This can be anything from USD 100, which will help to fund a family, to USD 100,000, which would fund an entire town of up to 1000 farmers. The startup then uses satellites to monitor rainfall in the areas and automatically pays out funds if the weather has been damaging. Investors can earn above-market returns from the crop sales, while knowing that their money is also protecting the livelihood of the farmers.

Could other charitable projects provide investment opportunities?