AgUnity and Etherisc Sign MOU to Kick-Start Their Cooperation
New blockchain solutions will enable smallholder farmers to safely use insurance products and continue to transact during the pandemic.
QUEENSLAND, Australia, May 26, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Award-winning Australian technology developer AgUnity and Etherisc, an InsurTech startup developing a protocol for decentralised insurance applications, announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The agreement underlines the commitment of both parties to align their technologies in order to offer their services to the inclusive finance space.
"Our experience working on insurance solutions for emerging markets in Asia and Africa taught us that the last mile distribution is one of the crucial challenges in providing adequate protection for farmers, which is exactly what AgUnity can help us overcome," says Michiel Berende, Chief Inclusive Officer of Etherisc.
The timing of the decision of the two companies to cooperate is no coincidence. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation recently pointed out that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic creates considerable risks to global food supply chains and recommends to give smallholder farmers support to both enhance their productivity and market the food they produce, also through e-commerce channels.
"This is exactly the approach we are taking with our COVID19 response. The restrictions on movement are curbing farmers' access to markets to buy inputs and sell products. Their produce does not leave the farms, resulting in food loss. Using our digital platform, farmers can continue to transact while staying safe from infections as close human contact is entirely avoided," comments David Davies, CEO of AgUnity, adding, "Today insurance for farmers is more important than ever, so we are pleased to work with Etherisc, which allows us to include insurance solutions into our portfolio of farming tools."
Both companies are using blockchain technology with the aim to allow multiple parties to work together in a transparent way and ensure those who live in poverty access to relevant, impactful functions and services in a way that matches their needs and digital skills. Together the companies will work to bridge the gap between available insurance products and smallholder farmers in emerging markets who have limited access to insurance in order to solve the last mile challenges in delivering crucial insurance products to those who need them most.
About AgUnity
AgUnity is a global technology platform empowering thousands of organizations working towards UN SDGs to connect the last mile. Tackling issues of poor connectivity, a lack of digital literacy, and a lack of trust, AgUnity has developed a smartphone and blockchain-based solution for the world's 2-billion last mile farmers, a simple mobile product enabling cooperation, and connecting smallholder farmers with the services they need. More: https://www.agunity.com/.
About Etherisc
Etherisc has developed the first decentralised insurance framework, in which insurance policies can be deployed as autonomous smart contracts on the blockchain. After very successful projects for weather index insurance policies were conducted with smallholder farmers in Sri Lanka with the support of AON and Oxfam in 2018/19, Etherisc is working on several projects to provide blockchain-based climate risk insurance at a larger scale to protect the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. More: https://etherisc.com/.
Media Contacts
AgUnity: Carmen Van Zyl, [email protected], +61414594593 or +6282144153886
Etherisc: Michiel Berende, [email protected], +31618050847
SOURCE Etherisc
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