A new form of insurance that covers risks such as droughts or floods could help small farmers in developing countries cope with worsening impacts of global warming, a U.N. backed report said on Wednesday.

Under "index insurance", payouts are linked to a yardstick such as a shortfall of rains in the maize growing season in Malawi or the height of the Mekong River near rice paddies in Vietnam that risk flooding.

In theory, such a system is simpler and so cheaper than normal farm insurance, which pays compensation for crop failures only after insurance companies document losses at each farm.

www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLO342609

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