Anuja Jaitly

The impact of crop insurance and anticipatory action at the household level for small holder farmers

In recent decades, the financial inclusion and disaster risk reduction communities have invested funds and energy in designing effective microinsurance solutions for low-income communities with the promise that insurance would help mitigate financial shocks and enable families to break the poverty cycle. Similarly, there is growing support for anticipatory action in the delivery of humanitarian aid to enable empowerment and proactive risk mitigation in the face of climate risk. The purpose of this research is to determine the impact of microinsurance and anticipatory action at the household level for small holder farmers. To date, there is limited research and evidence on the impact of insurance on social welfare outcomes, investments, and perceptions of risk. In addition, there is an opportunity to understand whether anticipatory action would alter this impact at the household level. This research aims to address three important gaps in the literature, (1) a quantitative analysis of the impact of microinsurance and anticipatory action on social welfare and financial resilience for small holder farmers, (2) the impact on the individuals within a household with a focus on gender and age; and, (3) a qualitative analysis of perceptions of risk and insurance.