Empowering Female Farmers

How it works

Meet a farmer

Learn about the stories of low-income farmers who have been trapped in poverty due to weather-related risks.

Insure their crop

Select a community or individual to insure, providing them with affordable safety nets that fuel development.

Receive updates

Know exactly where your dollars are going with regular updates on the farmers you support.

Recycle your donation

If droughts or floods do not wipe out your farmer's crop, your donation can be used to insure an additional farmer.

About Zua

We are the world’s first insuring platform that gives benefactors the ability to have a meaningful and sustainable impact by providing aid in the form of insurance to low-income farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. As a non-profit insurance provider whose primary mission is development rather than profit, we are able to offer insurance that puts the interests of the farmers first. This is only possible due to people like you; by supporting Zua, you are playing a crucial role in helping some of society’s most vulnerable members manage life-and-death risks.

Learn More

Meet Royce

Royce is a 23 year old farmer who lives in Chibanga (a small rural village in Zambia). As a mother of three, and with another currently on the way, Royce worries about providing food for her family.

"One bad harvest often leads to future bad harvests. Not only is your family hungry now, but you also worry that you will not have enough money to buy seed and fertilizer for the next year, which means next year’s harvest will do poorly too."
— Royce of Chibanga

Zua’s microinsurance offering would help people like Royce by covering the cost of maize, fertilizer and pesticides in cases of crop failures. This allows farmers to purchase the inputs they need for the following year, thus preventing one bad harvest from perpetuating into the next.

The role of women and microinsurance in development

Women make up 70% of the world’s poor. They earn less than men and have less access to resources such as land, credit, and education. According to the UN’s International Labour Organization, they face disproportionate levels of vulnerability. When this vulnerability is combined with the responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of their families, it becomes apparent that women have a particularly pressing need to manage risk. Women also make up the majority of small-scale farmers in the communities in which Zua operates, and thus they are hardest hit by weather-related shocks. Zua seeks to equip females with the tools they need to manage these risks and reduce their vulnerability.

Note: Although Zua’s focus remains on women, because we operate within very small communities we try to help all farmers in need, regardless of gender. Females make up the vast majority of rural farmers and will naturally be the main beneficiaries of our services, but all donors have the option to dedicate their funds exclusively towards women if they wish.