Pula, a Kenyan climate-risk and agricultural technology company, has been named a finalist for the 2026 Earthshot Prize in the Fix Our Climate category, recognising its work extending parametric insurance to smallholder farmers across Africa.
The announcement places the Nairobi-headquartered firm among 15 finalists selected from nearly 7,000 nominations across 169 countries. Five winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Mumbai on 17 November.
Pula’s selection highlights a growing focus on anticipatory financial mechanisms to address climate vulnerability in agricultural economies. The company has reached approximately 24 million farmers across the continent through partnerships with eight African governments and more than 100 distribution partners, paying out US$136.5 million in claims to date while providing cover for more than US$2.8 billion in farming investment.
From Aid Dependency to Market Mechanism
The company’s core product, Area Yield Index Insurance, uses satellite data, field monitoring and historical yield records to assess whether harvests in a defined geographic area have fallen below agreed thresholds. When drought, flood or other covered events trigger a payout, insured farmers in that area receive automatic compensation without needing to file individual claims — a structure designed to reduce the administrative costs that have historically made small-scale agricultural insurance unviable.
The model represents a departure from traditional indemnity insurance, which requires individual loss verification and has proven prohibitively expensive to distribute to dispersed smallholder populations. Pula’s approach embeds coverage into programmes farmers already access — government agricultural support schemes, seed and fertiliser distribution, and agricultural loans — so that protection is provided automatically rather than sold as a standalone product.
Thomas Njeru, Pula’s co-founder and chief executive, said the recognition reflected the resilience of smallholder farmers “carrying climate risks they did not create.”
“The Earthshot Prize can help us build the government, insurance and finance partnerships required to reach 100 million farmers by 2030, so a drought or flood is a setback farmers can recover from, not the end of a livelihood,” he said.
The Data Dividend
Beyond insurance, Pula has built digital infrastructure that registers farmers and maps their plots, creating verified records that can connect smallholders to formal financial systems. In rural economies where farmers often remain invisible to government and commercial service providers, this data layer has applications extending beyond insurance — potentially unlocking access to credit, targeted subsidies, healthcare and other services.
The company cites internal research indicating that 87 per cent of insured farmers increased investment in their farms after receiving coverage, no longer constrained by the risk that a single failed season could eliminate their livelihoods.
Pula’s expansion ambitions come as demand for climate adaptation finance grows. According to the company, 80 countries will need forecast-triggered funding covering at least half their at-risk populations by 2030, up from approximately 40 today.
The Earthshot Prize, founded by Prince William in 2020, will work with Pula to raise the profile of climate-risk protection for smallholder farmers and facilitate partnerships across government, insurance, finance and agribusiness sectors. Prize organisers said the support could accelerate expansion into underserved markets and strengthen the data infrastructure needed to reach farmers at scale.
“Seeing solutions work gives us all confidence to act,” Prince William said in a statement. “When they succeed, they inspire others and accelerate change.”
Sector Context
Smallholder farmers produce nearly one-third of the world’s food supply but remain among the populations most exposed to climate shocks. In sub-Saharan Africa, where agricultural systems are predominantly rain-fed and insurance penetration remains low, a single failed season can erase household income, prevent loan repayment and deepen food insecurity across communities.
Pula’s long-term strategy seeks to distribute climate risk across governments, insurers, lenders and agricultural markets rather than concentrating it on individual farmers. The company describes its model as contributing to a “positive tipping point” — a threshold beyond which systemic change becomes self-sustaining.
The Earthshot Prize selection process involved assessment by the organisation’s selection team, an expert advisory panel of more than 150 specialists, and a global network of over 363 nominators. Since 2020, the prize has supported 75 finalists whose collective work has avoided or captured more than 18 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, according to prize organisers.