IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ags/ajaees/389087.html

The Role of Index-Based Livestock Insurance in Enhancing Household Food Security among Pastoralists in Hadado Sub-County, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Nelson, Tore Kipngetich
  • Kinyua, James Muita
  • Isaboke, Hezron Nyarindo
  • Chege, Samwel Macharia
  • Cheruiyot, Jaret Kiprotich

Abstract

Pastoralist households in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands face recurrent droughts and climate variability, which undermine livestock-based livelihoods and compromise food security. Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) has been promoted as an adaptation tool that provides payouts based on satellite-derived vegetation indices rather than direct household-level loss assessments. This study examines the role of IBLI in enhancing household food security in Hadado Sub-County, Wajir, Kenya. Primary data were collected from 286 randomly selected households using a semi-structured questionnaire, and Propensity Score Matching (PSM) was employed to estimate food security outcomes. The results show that IBLI participation significantly reduced reliance on less-preferred foods (ATT = 0.206, p < .05), indicating a protective effect on dietary quality during droughts. However, no significant impacts were observed on food run-outs (p = 0.46) or skipped meals (p = 0.30). Probit regression further revealed that household size (β = −0.043, p = 0.098) and age of the household head (β = −0.021, p = 0.105) were negatively associated with uptake, while gender was not statistically significant (β = −0.082, p = 0.618). Qualitative evidence indicated that payouts helped households avoid distress sales of livestock and purchase food, though basis risk and limited financial literacy constrained effectiveness. These findings suggest that IBLI supports dietary diversity in drought-prone pastoral systems, but complementary measures such as financial literacy training, gender-sensitive programming, improved market connectivity, and emergency aid are needed to maximize its food security impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Nelson, Tore Kipngetich & Kinyua, James Muita & Isaboke, Hezron Nyarindo & Chege, Samwel Macharia & Cheruiyot, Jaret Kiprotich, 2025. "The Role of Index-Based Livestock Insurance in Enhancing Household Food Security among Pastoralists in Hadado Sub-County, Kenya," Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, vol. 43(9).
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:ajaees:389087
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/389087/files/Nelson4392025AJAEES144286.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carter, Michael R. & Little, Peter D. & Mogues, Tewodaj & Negatu, Workneh, 2007. "Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 835-856, May.
    2. Michael Carter & Alain de Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet & Alexandros Sarris, 2017. "Index Insurance for Developing Country Agriculture: A Reassessment," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 421-438, October.
    3. Sommarat Chantarat & Andrew G. Mude & Christopher B. Barrett & Michael R. Carter, 2013. "Designing Index-Based Livestock Insurance for Managing Asset Risk in Northern Kenya," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(1), pages 205-237, March.
    4. Michael Carter & Alain de Janvry & Elisabeth Sadoulet & Alexandros Sarris, 2017. "Index Insurance for Developing Country Agriculture: A Reassessment," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 421-438, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rigo, Roberta & Santos, Paulo & Frontuto, Vito, 2022. "Landscape heterogeneity, basis risk and the feasibility of index insurance: An analysis of rice in upland regions of Southeast Asia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Erwin Bulte & Rein Haagsma, 2021. "The Welfare Effects of Index-Based Livestock Insurance: Livestock Herding on Communal Lands," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(4), pages 587-613, April.
    3. Quentin Stoeffler & Michael Carter & Catherine Guirkinger & Wouter Gelade, 2022. "The Spillover Impact of Index Insurance on Agricultural Investment by Cotton Farmers in Burkina Faso," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 114-140.
    4. Hansen, James & Hellin, Jon & Rosenstock, Todd & Fisher, Eleanor & Cairns, Jill & Stirling, Clare & Lamanna, Christine & van Etten, Jacob & Rose, Alison & Campbell, Bruce, 2019. "Climate risk management and rural poverty reduction," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 28-46.
    5. Jensen, Nathaniel & Stoeffler, Quentin & Fava, Francesco & Vrieling, Anton & Atzberger, Clement & Meroni, Michele & Mude, Andrew & Carter, Michael, 2019. "Does the design matter? Comparing satellite-based indices for insuring pastoralists against drought," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 59-73.
    6. Möllmann, Johannes & Buchholz, Matthias & Kölle, Wienand & Musshoff, Oliver, 2020. "Do remotely-sensed vegetation health indices explain credit risk in agricultural microfinance?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    7. Elinor Benami & Michael R. Carter, 2021. "Can digital technologies reshape rural microfinance? Implications for savings, credit, & insurance," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1196-1220, December.
    8. Kramer, Berber & Pattnaik, Subhransu & Ward, Patrick S. & Xu, Yingchen, "undated". "Impacts of a digital credit-insurance bundle for landless farmers: Evidence from a cluster randomized trial in Odisha, India," 2024 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 5-7, 2024, San Antonio, Texas 339080, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Lichtenberg, Erik & Iglesias, Eva, 2022. "Index insurance and basis risk: A reconsideration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    10. Sarah A. Janzen & Michael R. Carter & Munenobu Ikegami, 2021. "Can insurance alter poverty dynamics and reduce the cost of social protection in developing countries?," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(2), pages 293-324, June.
    11. Kramer, Berber & Pattnaik, Subhransu & Ward, Patrick S. & Xu, Yingchen, 2024. "Impacts of an innovative credit + insurance bundle for marginalized farmers: Evidence from a cluster randomized trial in Odisha, India," IFPRI discussion papers 2288, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Boyd, Chris M. & Bellemare, Marc F., 2022. "Why not insure prices? Experimental evidence from Peru," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 580-631.
    13. Arteaga, Julian & Carter, Michael R & Hobbs, Andrew, 2026. "Insuring those who bear the risk: The impact of gender-inclusive framing on insurance uptake in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    14. Annan, Francis & Datta, Bikramaditya, 2022. "Risk, informal institutions, and index insurance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    15. Spielman, David J. & Mugabo, Serge & Rosenbach, Gracie & Ndikumana, Sosthene & Benimana, Gilberthe & Ingabire, Chantal, 2025. "Fertilizer policy reforms in the midst of crisis: Evidence from Rwanda," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    16. James B. Keller & Tina L. Saitone, 2022. "Basis risk in the pasture, rangeland, and forage insurance program: Evidence from California," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 104(4), pages 1203-1223, August.
    17. Keiko Fukumori & Ayumi Arai & Tomoya Matsumoto, 2022. "Risk Management for Smallholder Farmers: An Empirical Study on the Adoption of Weather-Index Crop Insurance in Rural Kenya," Working Papers 230, JICA Research Institute.
    18. Elena Serfilippi & Michael Carter & Catherine Guirkinger, 2018. "Insurance Contracts when Individuals “Greatly Value” Certainty: Results from a Field Experiment in Burkina Faso," NBER Working Papers 25026, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Mengmeng Qiang & Manhong Shen & Guanjun Xia, 2023. "The effectiveness of weather index insurance in managing mariculture production risk," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 67(2), pages 245-262, April.
    20. Petraud, Jean & Boucher, Stephen & Carter, Michael, 2015. "Competing theories of risk preferences and the demand for crop insurance: Experimental evidence from Peru," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211383, International Association of Agricultural Economists.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:ajaees:389087. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journalajaees.com/index.php/AJAEES/index .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.