Is Agricultural Insurance Fulfilling Its Promise for the Developing World? A Review of Recent Evidence

Berber Kramer, Peter Hazell, Harold Alderman, Francisco Ceballos, Neha Kumar and Anne G. Timu
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Peter Hazell: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Francisco Ceballos: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA
Anne G. Timu: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Washington, DC, USA

Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2022, vol. 14, issue 1, 291-311

Abstract: Innovations in agricultural index insurance have raised expectations that the private sector can overcome shortcomings associated with more traditional indemnity-based products like multiperil crop insurance and strengthen agricultural risk management at scale across developing countries. This article updates previous reviews on agricultural insurance but differs in that it goes beyond the prognosis that recent innovations can help make insurance more commercially viable. As such, it addresses two important challenges that have received limited attention. First, it distinguishes different types of farm households and recognizes that many are excluded from the insurance market, describing additional innovations that can help make insurance more accessible to these excluded groups. Second, it acknowledges that insurance for catastrophic risks is unaffordable for most farmers and summarizes new developments in disaster assistance and safety net programs that can provide broader protection against these risks. The review concludes that cost-benefit analyses of subsidized insurance programs will be crucial for guiding public spending decisions.

Keywords: agricultural insurance; disaster assistance; literature review; social safety nets; technological innovations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G52 H23 O13 Q14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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DOI: 10.1146/annurev-resource-111220-014147

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