Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya
Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa remain highly vulnerable to climate-induced shocks, with Kenya’s agriculture sector facing acute risks due to drought. Despite growing recognition of crop insurance as a risk mitigation tool, adoption remains below 1% among smallholders, largely due to affor...
| Autores principales: | , , , |
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| Formato: | Informe técnico |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2024
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173991 |
| _version_ | 1855534087493648384 |
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| author | Mwungu, Chris Otieno, Felix Njambi, Agnes Ghosh, Aniruddha |
| author_browse | Ghosh, Aniruddha Mwungu, Chris Njambi, Agnes Otieno, Felix |
| author_facet | Mwungu, Chris Otieno, Felix Njambi, Agnes Ghosh, Aniruddha |
| author_sort | Mwungu, Chris |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa remain highly vulnerable to climate-induced shocks, with Kenya’s agriculture sector facing acute risks due to drought. Despite growing recognition of crop insurance as a risk mitigation tool, adoption remains below 1% among smallholders, largely due to affordability, limited awareness, and distribution challenges. The aMaizing Crop Insurance Project was implemented across 15 Kenyan counties to improve smallholder resilience by promoting index-based crop insurance bundled with climate advisories, training, and complementary services such as credit and certified inputs. This report evaluates the effectiveness of two core interventions—SMS-based agro-advisories and training through village champions—based on baseline and endline surveys conducted in five representative counties. Advanced econometric methods were used to assess outcomes on yield, income, and food security. Findings show that insured farmers experienced a 315 kg/acre increase in maize yields, a 13.97% improvement in food security, and higher crop income. Adoption was influenced by proximity to markets, training exposure, and access to climate information. However, adoption remains low due to systemic barriers and behavioral biases. Gender-disaggregated analysis revealed that women faced greater challenges but reported higher perceived benefits when targeted with tailored support. The project’s end-to-end digitization of the insurance process improved transparency and efficiency, enabling faster registration and payouts. These findings underscore the importance of bundling insurance with value-adding services, designing gender-sensitive approaches, and strengthening trust through transparent systems. Policy recommendations include expanding education campaigns, addressing affordability, and leveraging public-private partnerships to increase insurance penetration and build long-term resilience among smallholder farmers. |
| format | Informe técnico |
| id | CGSpace173991 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1739912025-11-05T12:19:10Z Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya Mwungu, Chris Otieno, Felix Njambi, Agnes Ghosh, Aniruddha evaluation smallholders digital agriculture food security resilience risk management climate services insurance Smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa remain highly vulnerable to climate-induced shocks, with Kenya’s agriculture sector facing acute risks due to drought. Despite growing recognition of crop insurance as a risk mitigation tool, adoption remains below 1% among smallholders, largely due to affordability, limited awareness, and distribution challenges. The aMaizing Crop Insurance Project was implemented across 15 Kenyan counties to improve smallholder resilience by promoting index-based crop insurance bundled with climate advisories, training, and complementary services such as credit and certified inputs. This report evaluates the effectiveness of two core interventions—SMS-based agro-advisories and training through village champions—based on baseline and endline surveys conducted in five representative counties. Advanced econometric methods were used to assess outcomes on yield, income, and food security. Findings show that insured farmers experienced a 315 kg/acre increase in maize yields, a 13.97% improvement in food security, and higher crop income. Adoption was influenced by proximity to markets, training exposure, and access to climate information. However, adoption remains low due to systemic barriers and behavioral biases. Gender-disaggregated analysis revealed that women faced greater challenges but reported higher perceived benefits when targeted with tailored support. The project’s end-to-end digitization of the insurance process improved transparency and efficiency, enabling faster registration and payouts. These findings underscore the importance of bundling insurance with value-adding services, designing gender-sensitive approaches, and strengthening trust through transparent systems. Policy recommendations include expanding education campaigns, addressing affordability, and leveraging public-private partnerships to increase insurance penetration and build long-term resilience among smallholder farmers. 2024-09 2025-04-02T13:48:15Z 2025-04-02T13:48:15Z Report https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173991 en Open Access application/pdf Mwungu, C.; Otieno, F.; Njambi, A.; Ghosh, A. (2024) Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya. Nairobi (Kenya): Bioversity International and International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). 121 p. |
| spellingShingle | evaluation smallholders digital agriculture food security resilience risk management climate services insurance Mwungu, Chris Otieno, Felix Njambi, Agnes Ghosh, Aniruddha Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title | Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title_full | Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title_fullStr | Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title_short | Enhancing smallholder resilience through index-based crop insurance: Evaluation of the aMaizing Project in Kenya |
| title_sort | enhancing smallholder resilience through index based crop insurance evaluation of the amaizing project in kenya |
| topic | evaluation smallholders digital agriculture food security resilience risk management climate services insurance |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/173991 |
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