This briefing paper outlines the case study of Nicaraguan Index-based weather insurance and the previously used government and NGO aid for agricultural disasters. Over the past three years, a public?private partnership has sought to develop and test an alternative approach to insuring weather?related risks in Nicaraguan agriculture. The partnership has sought to raise awareness and understanding about the scope and limitations of indexed?based insurance in Central American agriculture, to design and market?test prototype insurance contracts, and to begin to build local and regional capacities to carry on this work in the future. This note provides a brief summary of the program and experience to date, highlights several emerging lessons, and points to on?going and future initiatives that will enable the mainstreaming of these efforts into other projects and business activities.