 My name is Rupsha Banerjee. I work in the International Livestock Research Institute and lead the work around drought risk index financing solutions. Yes, livestock accounts for almost 10 to 44% anywhere between 10 to 44% for the continent's agriculture GDP. In addition to that, it also has social and cultural, as well as food significance for the continent. So in Africa, pasture is generated 75% of the continent's milk and more than half of its meat. And this, despite the fact that current climate-related struggles, as a matter of fact, currently, about 20 million pastoralists have been struggling with the ongoing drought as a result of two years of failed rains. But when there is a good year, pastoralists ensure both food and nutritional security. And actually, there has been proof to show that the children in poor pastoralist household actually suffer from low levels of malnutrition as compared to children in poor crop farm households. If it is well-managed and supported, pastoralist is one of the most viable and potentially sustainable systems to help dryland communities cope with climate change, in addition to being one of the most efficient ways to produce food in marginal lands. Pastoralists are actually naturals towards the range land systems. And so if well-managed, pastoralism, in fact, becomes sustainable. So what has been missing are targeted financial investments and market interventions to help them tap their survival skills, which have been built over generations, and also increase their income to deal with this climate stress and to get more outputs from their animals. Until recently, drought emergencies have largely been met with provisions of food aid along with some basic social protection programs. However, to help close this gap, Ilri developed an index insurance program for the never-insured pastoralists of Kenya and Ethiopia. These index livestock insurance policies are purchased by pastoralists or their governments on their behalf. Insurance payouts are made to the herders when drought conditions become severe and there is no forage available. These payouts are supposed to help pastoralists buy food for their families, fodder, and veterinary services for their animals in addition to helping them to meet any other kind of livelihood needs. Interestingly, what most people don't realize is that out of our privately purchased insurance policy holders, 43% of them are women. This is important because in these systems, it is the women who oversee milk production and the nutrition of the children and family. It should be noted that 75% of the milk production of the continent comes from the pastoral areas. We have conducted studies, particularly to understand the decision-making dynamics in the pastoral households, to understand the opportunities to further engage women and help them access markets and financial services. It is time that financial solutions such as IBLI be embedded into the anticipatory and emergency response programs of the governments. Governments should be at the forefront of these efforts with support, of course, from the private sector and with dedicated climate financing. Better quality and near real-time data on indicators such as nutrition, market prices, and grazing conditions will both improve these programs and attract market players. With government and the private sector acting together, we will be able to build upon the traditional coping strategies of the pastoralists and award the worst effects of climate change.