Terminal Evaluation Report Financial tools for small scale fishers in Melanesia Project: 2022 to 2025

The project sought to create an enabling environment and design parametric insurance products for coastal communities in Fiji and Papua New Guinea to mitigate climate-related shocks. While it successfully produced technical research, guidance documents, and increased financial literacy among a small number of participants, it failed to deploy a viable insurance product or meet its ambitious beneficiary targets. Success was higher in Fiji, where institutional interest was stronger, whereas political instability and a lack of community readiness led to the cessation of activities in Papua New Guinea. The project is rated as 'Satisfactory' overall, noted for high cost-efficiency relative to its US$ 1 million budget, but hampered by unrealistic targets and insufficient in-country funding.

• The project failed to meet its primary objective of deploying a community-based parametric insurance product, although it completed the necessary research and technical documentation to enable future pilots, particularly in Fiji.
• Beneficiary reach was significantly lower than the target of 7,500 people, with only an estimated 182 individuals recorded as having participated in project-funded training.
• Project activities in Papua New Guinea were ceased in 2024 because the proposed community-level parametric insurance model was found to be non-viable in the local context, where residents were more interested in individual microinsurance.
• In Fiji, the project successfully identified the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs as a potential policy holder and generated interest from the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change and the Fiji Development Bank.
• A critical barrier to the project's success was the inability to secure external premium financing, as the amount communities were willing to pay was far below the actuarial cost of the insurance.
• The project is rated as 'Highly satisfactory' in terms of cost-efficiency, delivering significant research and institutional groundwork on a modest budget of approximately US$ 1 million.
• The project's M&E design was flawed because core indicators and targets were set too high and were not approved for reduction by the GEF, leading to reporting that understated actual progress.
• The use of Community Facilitators (CFs) was identified as a best practice for culturally adapted extension and community engagement, particularly in promoting women's empowerment.
• The project's sustainability is rated as 'moderately likely', with reasonable potential for a pilot in Fiji but little likelihood of sustained impact in Papua New Guinea.
• Budgetary constraints led to an under-funded in-country execution, forcing the project to rely on cross-subsidization from other WWF Pacific projects to cover staff and activity costs.

APA

Weston, P., Collins, S., & Mawe, N. (2025). Terminal Evaluation Report Financial tools for small scale fishers in Melanesia Project: 2022 to 2025. WWF International. https://assets.worldwildlife.org/www-prd/documents/25-07-17-WWF_MelanesiaFishersEvalReport.pdf

Chicago

Weston, Peter, Stephen Collins, and Noah Mawe. Terminal Evaluation Report Financial tools for small scale fishers in Melanesia Project: 2022 to 2025. WWF International, 2025. https://assets.worldwildlife.org/www-prd/documents/25-07-17-WWF_MelanesiaFishersEvalReport.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Weston |first1=Peter |last2=Collins |first2=Stephen |last3=Mawe |first3=Noah |title=Terminal Evaluation Report Financial tools for small scale fishers in Melanesia Project: 2022 to 2025 |publisher=WWF International |date=17 July 2025 |url=https://assets.worldwildlife.org/www-prd/documents/25-07-17-WWF_MelanesiaFishersEvalReport.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{weston2025terminal, author = {Weston, Peter and Collins, Stephen and Mawe, Noah}, title = {{Terminal Evaluation Report Financial tools for small scale fishers in Melanesia Project: 2022 to 2025}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2025}, month = jul, url = {https://assets.worldwildlife.org/www-prd/documents/25-07-17-WWF_MelanesiaFishersEvalReport.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }