Kenya's Sharia-friendly livestock insurance

Insurance can help cushion pastoral household assets and income during drought © Mike Pflanz/IRIN

The Islamic Takaful insurance, which is gaining acceptance by livestock keepers keen to operate under the religion's precepts, is boosting risk management.

Prior to its introduction, livestock farmers here had not embraced conventional insurance schemes in great numbers, though IRIN reported on a pilot Index Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) scheme in 2010.

"Many were either suspicious or ignorant. But a majority clearly indicated that it was against the tenets of Islam," Hassan Bashir, Takaful insurance's CEO, told IRIN.

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