R4 is WFP's flagship approach for integrated climate risk management which combines four risk-management elements to support smallholder farmers: risk retention, risk transfer, risk management and risk reduction (the 4 Rs).
Smallholder farmers are significantly impacted by climate change, which aggravates key structural challenges such as poor access to agricultural inputs, financial services, and assets.
R4 aims to support smallholder farmers in becoming more resilient to climate risks through a combination of four integrated objectives:
1. Reducing the impact of climate shocks through nature-based solutions and improved agricultural practices, productive asset creation and climate information services;
2. Transferring the risk of potentially catastrophic climate events to the private insurance market;
3. Enabling better risk absorption of households and communities through the promotion of group savings and integration with social protection systems;
4. Promoting prudent risk-taking through financial education, livelihood diversification, and easier access to credit to enable better investments.
R4’s approach is expanding to a new value chain in two new countries. The Cocoa Micro-Insurance project is increasing micro-insurance diversification using Area Yield Index Insurance for a new crop: cocoa. It is also expanding into two new countries: Ghana and Ivory Coast.
R4 aims to support approximately 1.4 million households (7.5 million people) with integrated climate risk management in 25 countries by 2025, with the added benefit of expanding access to these insurance products to a broader market beyond the R4 participant farmers.
