In the summer of 2019, Dr. Richard Gallenstein continued his work on his USAID funded research program focused on developing advanced agricultural insurance products for small scale farmers in Ghana. He worked with a team of researchers at the University of California at Davis to develop a satellite based measure of farmers’ yields that can be used to develop insurance policies.

In August 2019, he traveled to Ghana to meet with organizations that may partner with his team in designing insurance contracts, marketing insurance contracts to farmers, and evaluating the impact of these contracts. His visit included meetings with the Ghana Commodity Exchange, information technology companies Esoko and Agrocenta, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, a member of the Ghanaian Parliament, and other stakeholders. His visit also included meetings directly with farmer groups to help determine the risks that they faced and what features they are looking for in potential insurance policies.