Throughout history, droughts have caused food crises, major social upheavals and wars. Ensuring food availability is a priority for any world leader. In countries like the US, Spain, Turkey and China, the government has strongly supported the development of agricultural insurance schemes to confront this challenge. Climatically, 2012 was a difficult year in the US, as is recounted for Trébol by Benjamin S. Wilder of Grant Thornton and Frank Schnapp of the National Crop Insurance Services, who in addition to reviewing the fundamentals of these schemes, also demonstrate their robust continuity.

Communication is an intrinsic element of social life. People have always strived to find different and efficient ways to communicate, which is why telephone communication is one of the most significant achievements of the modern era. Nobody could have imagined 135 years ago, when the first telephone device was invented, that it would become part of our everyday working and social lives. Esther Cerdeño, IT Deputy Manager at MAPFRE RE, focuses on the dramatic progress accomplished in communication technologies leading up to mobile devices, and on the new unknown challenges that lie ahead.

José María Elguero, director of Studies and effectively head of the think tank MARSH Spain, believes the current crisis is an opportunity to explore new ways of thinking and working out strategies. In addition to highlighting growth in civil liability insurance for D&O (Directors and Officers) in Spain, Mr Elguero touches on a few of the issues reviewed in his report “Insurance Agents and their Civil Liability”, which was sponsored by FUNDACIÓN MAPFRE. According to the report, training, specialisation and new technologies will continue to be the keys to professional excellence for agents.

The last interview in Trébol is with the director of the Spanish Transplant Organisation, Dr Rafael Matesanz. In the interview, Dr Matesanz relates an inspiring success story that goes back to 1989, when Spain’s very own national transplant system, run by the public health service, was introduced. The model, which combines efficient logistics, highly specialised crossdisciplinary teams and controlled expenditure, and is bolstered by the generosity of the people, has propelled Spain to the top of global transplant statistics. In a world that is virtually borderless where transplants are concerned, it is heart-warming to imagine the number of people who live around us thanks to the donations of others.