The Global Islands’ Vulnerability Research, Adaptation, Policy and Development (GIVRAPD) Project is funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and involves international not-for-profit organisations the INTRASAVE Partnership and CARIBSAVE, and Caribbean Risk Managers (CaribRM). The GIVRAPD project:

‘…is a two year research project on community adaptation to climate change in four Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean (St. Lucia and Jamaica) and the Indian Ocean (Mauritius and Seychelles). It seeks to understand the multiple social, economic, governance and environmental conditions that shape vulnerability and capacity to adapt to climate change.’

The Microinsurance Component of GIVRAPD is comprised of three work streams:

1. Microinsurance Demand Analysis and Interviews which draws on previous survey research in the Caribbean conducted by the Munich Climate Insurance Initiative (MCII) and the German Development Corporation (GIZ), and fieldwork in Indian Ocean SIDS, specifically Mauritius and The Seychelles.
2. Review of survey and interview results.
3. Hazard modelling and product testing with the aim to develop product ideas, protocols and methodologies to implement microinsurance in these regions.

The current working paper addresses the remit of Work Streams 1 and 2 and compares the results to emerge from the MCII/GIZ project undertaken in the Caribbean in 2011, and analysed in Demand for WeatherRelated Insurance and Risk Management Approaches in the Caribbean2 , and data to emerge from a sample survey of low income persons in small island developing states (SIDS) in the South West Indian Ocean (SWIO), specifically Mauritius and the Seychelles.

This working paper is structured as follows. Section 2 provides a socio-economic profile of the countries studied, and an overview of the effect of extreme weather on these regions. Section 3 presents the methodology and results of the surveys conducted in these regions in relation to demographics of the sample, labour market activity, financial behaviour, experience of extreme weather, and analysis of coping mechanisms. Section 4 concludes and provides recommendations for reducing vulnerability and promoting adaptation in these SIDS.

Picture: O'Neil Perrin