Jamaica faces a variety of natural hazards and, on a combined-hazard basis, is among the most vulnerable countries in the world. It lies in the center of the Atlantic hurricane belt, on a complex area of the northern Caribbean Plate margin, and is subject to tropical rainfall and erosion processes. Agriculture in Jamaica is vulnerable to various risks ranging from extreme winds, extreme rain and droughts. However, a large part of the agricultural sector, including large integrated supply chains as well as small farmers, is absorbing all the climate risks, without any risk out-transfer mechanism, neither publicly nor privately (re)insured.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MOA) has requested technical assistance from the World Bank to assess the feasibility of public-private index insurance partnerships for critical crops to strengthen its natural disaster assistance program for small farmers located throughout Jamaica. It also asked for a feasibility study for wind speed index insurance for the coffee sector.