Coopbank Partners with UNDP to Embed Climate Insurance in Agricultural Lending

#EBR_News Apr 25, 2026

The Cooperative Bank of Oromia and the United Nations Development Programme have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen climate risk management in Ethiopia's agricultural sector by integrating climate insurance directly into the bank's lending operations, according to a joint announcement.

Agriculture contributes approximately 32 percent of Ethiopia's GDP but remains highly vulnerable to climate‑related shocks such as recurrent droughts and floods, which continue to be a primary barrier to agricultural credit for smallholder farmers. The partnership aims to bridge this financing gap by positioning insurance as a de‑risking tool, supporting the National Agricultural Finance Implementation Roadmap (NAFIR) and creating a scalable operational model for the wider financial industry.

Under the agreement, UNDP will provide technical assistance to Coopbank, including the establishment of a dedicated Insurance Desk at the bank to lead the integration of insurance into core lending operations.

UNDP will also apply advanced climate risk analytics to the bank's lending portfolio to assess, quantify, and mitigate concentrated climate‑financial exposure. The two parties will co‑design and pilot credit‑linked insurance products tailored to key agricultural value chains, working with the insurance industry.

Coopbank CEO Deribie Asfaw highlighted the importance of the partnership, emphasising that it leverages UNDP's global expertise to strengthen financial inclusion and expand sustainable support for farmers across Ethiopia.

The initiative will also position insurance as a credit mitigation instrument to strengthen the bank's risk profile and improve access to capital from international financiers and climate funds. Specialised training programmes will be delivered to enhance internal expertise in product design and climate risk management.

The partnership is supported by UNDP's Insurance and Risk Finance Facility (IRFF) under the Financial Resilience in Agriculture (FRA) programme. The MoU was signed on April 17, 2026.

Follow EBR for the latest business news, trends, and expert analysis:

Telegram (@ebr_news)
Facebook* (https://bit.ly/3OodjMF)
LinkedIn (https://lnkd.in/eAVk65Xv)
WhatsApp (https://bit.ly/4tH4NIR)