Oxfam, the non-profit group focused on alleviating global poverty, has teamed up with blockchain startup Etherisc to help bring affordable insurance to paddy rice farmers in Sri Lanka.
The tie-up between Etherisc, which applies the ethereum public blockchain to the world of insurance, and Oxfam in Sri Lanka was announced Tuesday at CoinDesk's first "Blockchain for Social Good" event in London.
So-called "microinsurance" is often defined as coverage for people on very low incomes. Using a blockchain to program in the conditions under which a payout will automatically be made (typically adverse weather conditions or other types of catastrophe), removes much of the distribution and operational costs which have made microinsurance unsustainable in many cases.