Rhoda Rubaiza, project lead, and Regina Kwengwere, monitoring and evaluation expert, at ZEP-RE PTA Reinsurance Company, reveals the successes of the De-risking, Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies (DRIVE) project in the Horn of Africa, arguing that the project could be rolled out much further across Africa
At dawn on the parched plains of Korakora, Kenya, Naetoi Ekaru coaxes her remaining goats and cows towards a scrub of dry acacia. The long rains never came last season and the riverbeds are cracked and empty. In past droughts, Naetoi, a mother of four, watched helplessly as her cattle perished one by one while her goats weakened—each loss a blow to her family’s survival.
For generations of nomadic herders like Naetoi across the Horn of Africa, a single failed rain can spell financial ruin. But this year was different. When the skies stayed dry and the grass shrivelled, her phone lit up with a message: an insurance payout had landed in her mobile wallet. This wasn’t luck, it was the quiet revolution of the DRIVE project in the Horn of Africa.
As the world continues to debate the existence and impacts of climate change, for the pastoralists in the Horn of Africa, this is their lived reality. The region has increasingly faced severe climate-related disasters, notably the 2011 drought, one of the worst in 60 years, which affected 13 million people, mostly pastoralists, and caused US$12.1 billion in losses.
Subsequent droughts in the Horn of Africa displaced millions more, including one million people in Somalia in 2017. By the early 2020s, more than 19.4 million people were impacted, with 8.9 million livestock deaths, severely threatening pastoralist livelihoods. It was in this context that the DRIVE project was born, offering financial risk protection through innovative insurance mechanisms.
“This kind of drought, I haven’t seen it in my life,” says Lola Jilo, a pastoralist from Ethiopia’s Borana zone. “We’ve lost most of our livestock and are left with nothing. Some people started begging to survive. It’s due to some small support from the government that we’ve survived.”
In Tana River County, Kenya, Asna Ware Diba echoes the same loss. “We, livestock keepers and farmers, our cattle and goats are our bank account. When they are affected by drought, it’s like losing that account. We are hopeless. But since I joined the [DRIVE] programme and got the training, I have really benefited. I can afford to buy fodder for my animals. These animals provide for my household and replenish my herd.”
These voices underscore the very challenge the DRIVE project set out to solve: the precarious nature of pastoralist livelihoods in a rapidly changing climate.
The Horn of Africa has been ravaged by drought after drought, each one gnawing deeper into the pastoralist way of life. Millions of animals have died; markets have crashed and communities displaced. These aren’t just economic and climate shocks; they are existential. In a landscape where livestock is not only currency but culture, a failed rainy season can erase decades of work. And yet, pastoralists remain financially excluded, locked out of the very system designed to mitigate risk. This is where the DRIVE project steps in.
In communities across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, a quiet financial revolution is taking place. Where once there were no banks, no insurance policies and no safety nets, pastoralists are now opening digital wallets, buying livestock insurance and forming market-savvy co-operatives. In Somalia, the transformation is historic: this is the first time pastoralists have had access to any form of insurance at all.
“Livestock insurance is a new product in Somalia and has been a success,” adds Rukia Warsame Abdule, a project co-ordinator.
“A lot of pastoralists have participated, and we hope to reach most of the Somali arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) regions next season.”
Behind this quiet change is the DRIVE project, a regional initiative helping pastoralists protect their herds and their futures. It is among the climate adaptation programmes that are actually working not just on paper, but on the ground.
Building a safety net
Since its inception in 2022, the DRIVE project has gone beyond a safety net; it is constructing an ecosystem—one made of digital inclusion, community-led delivery, micro-insurance tailored for climate shocks and, above all, trust. This is redesigning what resilience looks like in one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
In a region where fewer than 3% of smallholder farmers are insured and pastoralists even less, the DRIVE project has already reached more than 3.2 million pastoralists and their families across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
These families now have tailored financial tools to buffer their livelihoods and together they have de-risked nearly US$300 million in value. That is not just economic support, it is long-overdue financial dignity. This surpasses the original target of reaching 1.6 million people cumulatively by the end of year five, demonstrating strong demand and rapid adoption.
As a regional effort, it enables cross-border risk pooling, making protection more effective and sustainable. Notably, women make up more than 55% of those reached, a remarkable shift in a space where financial services have long ignored them. This is more than just an inclusion metric, it is evidence that when the tools are right, women lead. Their participation reflects growing trust, relevance and accessibility of the services offered and signals a crucial pathway for enhancing household resilience and inclusive climate adaptation.
“The DRIVE programme has been very impactful to our pastoralists across 21 arid and semi-arid counties in Kenya. It has been able to build resilience to these pastoralists, so that their animals do not die during drought,” says Jonathan Mueke, principal secretary, State Department for Livestock Development.
“So far, we have been able to support more than 250,000 pastoralist households and insured their animals, helping them protect their livestock against drought. When drought strikes, these households receive timely payouts, enabling them to purchase feed and keep their animals alive, preserving both their livelihoods and their dignity.
Mueke added that such pastoralists depend on these animals as a livelihood. He explained that once the animals get wiped out, they lose everything and they cannot even take their children to school.
“Beyond insurance, DRIVE is strengthening the entire livestock value chain. We have introduced financing for entrepreneurs, encouraged market-led livestock practices, and partnered with institutions like the Kenya Development Corporation to support feedlots, slaughterhouses and animal feed producers,” he added.
These are not just numbers. They are mothers and herders, youth and elders, who have signed up, trained in financial resilience, and are actively reshaping their futures. They are not waiting for aid; they are investing in survival.
Component 1 of the DRIVE project is led by ZEP-RE on behalf of the governments of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, with support from the World Bank.
Through the ZEP-RE Academy, the project has also supported Somalia’s Central Bank in strengthening capacity to regulate their insurance industry and also set up takaful regulatory frameworks. These efforts are laying institutional foundations for lasting community-led financial resilience.
Diverse partnerships
The promise is simple: help people avoid losing everything when drought hits. But delivering on that promise takes more than just goodwill; it takes an ecosystem.
The DRIVE project demonstrates what is possible when everyone plays their part. Governments, commercial banks, insurers, co-operatives, global reinsurers and development institutions; they have come together to build something that lasts.
Currently, ZEP-RE is working with 34 financial intermediaries across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia. Thanks to these partnerships, more than 503,000 digital accounts are active today, many opened for the very first time, marking a significant step towards financial inclusion in pastoralist communities. This is not a one-off intervention, it is a regional-scale systems change, anchored in trust.
“The project is designed as a package provision for pastoralists in the country,” explains Musa Mahamad, advisor at Salaam Somali Bank. “It includes index insurance, savings accounts and a digital payment network. The model of having the bank and insurance companies working together added value.”
“The bank created a bridge of trust between insurance companies and beneficiaries. When people saw they had savings accounts and their money was safe, accepting and buying the products became easier.”
Faith-aligned and locally-led delivery
The insurance mechanism is precise and timely, driven by satellite data that triggers payouts when the level of forage falls below a set threshold. In regions where conventional insurance is not inclusive, the DRIVE team innovated again. By pioneering Sharia-compliant products, takaful models are available in Somalia and Ethiopia. DRIVE ensures that no one is excluded. With DRIVE, resilience is faith-aligned.
Reaching people also meant rethinking distribution. In Kenya, community mobilisers from pastoral groups take the lead, gravitating towards aggregated groups for higher reach. In Ethiopia and Somalia, trained bank and insurance agents enrol pastoralists through groups and co-operatives. Co-operatives in Ethiopia average 100 in membership. There are more than 10,700 livestock producer groups and co-operatives across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, not only supporting risk protection but also improving market access.
Digital inclusion, economic evolution
The DRIVE project is fully digital, enrolling through its digital inclusion platform and making it easier for pastoralists to register, access services and engage with the insurance system. This in essence lowers long-standing barriers and offers a bold new vision for scalable, inclusive solutions.
Even livestock sales are changing. The platform also registers animals for sale, unlocking market linkages opportunities that generate income that supports insurance renewal. It is a resilient loop—risk reduction fuelling economic empowerment. It is economic evolution, sparked from the ground up.
The road ahead
But success comes with new questions. Demand has grown more than available funding. Initial subsidies, up to 90%, are easing, now averaging 75%. Nevertheless, the goal is long-term sustainability—a complex ask for communities whose incomes fluctuate with climate.
DRIVE’s roadmap to sustainability includes boosting market access, strengthening pastoral groups and improving affordability and renewal rates. Diversification is also key: new products and initiatives, covering income loss, agricultural shocks, business interruption, life and health, will be tested to respond to evolving needs. These solutions are not just about safety nets; they are expanding the very definition of insurance in Africa.
Financial literacy remains critical. For many, especially in Somalia, this is their first encounter with insurance. Demystifying index-based insurance coverage is essential to ensure uptake and long-term impact. And impact depends on trust.
Yenenesh Girma, head of the Cooperative Promotion Bureau in Borana Zone, affirms: “DRIVE arrived at the time when we needed it the most. We are grateful to those stakeholders that made it happen for the benefit of the pastoralists.”
So, here is the big question: Will the world keep believing in these communities after the headlines fade? Pastoralists are often portrayed as vulnerable. But what DRIVE proves is that given the right tools and trust, they become agents of transformation. What they need is continued partnership and a little more time.
Projects like DRIVE rarely make headlines. They live in technical reports and mid-term reviews. But zoom in, and you will find communities not just surviving climate shocks but strategically navigating them.
And here is the most remarkable part: it is scalable. What is working in the Horn of Africa could be adapted across the Sahel, East Africa, Southern Africa— and beyond.
“We’re bullish about doubling the impact in the next two-and-a-half years. Organising pastoralists into co-operatives is key. Better organisation means stronger market links and with that, more income, more purchasing power, and ultimately, better access to services like insurance, veterinary care and social development tools. We are very happy about DRIVE,” said Hope Murera, managing director and CEO of ZEP-RE on the DRIVE project mid-term review.
The DRIVE project was always meant to be proof of concept. It is working. Let us scale up what works.
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