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Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in West Africa:

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  • Delavallade, Clara
  • Dizon, Felipe
  • Hill, Ruth Vargas
  • Petraud, Jean Paul

Abstract

While there is a fast-growing policy interest in offering financial products to help rural households manage risk, the literature is still scant as to which products are the most effective. In order to inform gender targeting of rural finance policy, this paper investigates which financial products best improve farmers’ productivity, resilience, and welfare, and whether benefits affect men and women equally. Using a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso, we compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. We found that female farm managers were less likely to purchase agricultural insurance and more likely to invest in savings for emergencies, even when we controlled for access to informal insurance and differences in crop choice. We hypothesize that this difference results from the fact that although men and women are equally exposed to yield risk, women face additional sources of life cycle risk—particularly health risks associated with fertility and childcare—that men do not. In essence, the basis risk associated with agricultural insurance products is higher for women. Insurance was more effective than savings at increasing input spending and use. Those who purchased more insurance realized higher average yields and were better able to manage food insecurity and shocks. This suggests that gender differences in demand for financial products can have an impact on productivity, resilience, and welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Delavallade, Clara & Dizon, Felipe & Hill, Ruth Vargas & Petraud, Jean Paul, 2015. "Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in West Africa:," IFPRI discussion papers 1426, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  • Handle: RePEc:fpr:ifprid:1426
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    Cited by:

    1. Mayra Buvinic & Megan O’Donnell, 2017. "Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions: A Research Review," Working Papers id:11926, eSocialSciences.
    2. Delavallade, Clara & Godlonton, Susan, 2023. "Locking crops to unlock investment: Experimental evidence on warrantage in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Clara Delavallade, 2017. "Quality Health Care and Willingness to Pay for Health Insurance Retention: A Randomized Experiment in Kolkata Slums," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(5), pages 619-638, May.
    4. Aheeyar, Mohamed & de Silva, Sanjiv & Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali & Arulingam, Indika, 2019. "Unpacking barriers to socially inclusive weather index insurance: towards a framework for inclusion," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 11(11):1-19.
    5. Ward, Patrick S. & Kumar, Neha & De Nicola, Francesca & Hill, Ruth & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J. & Magnan, Nicholas, 2017. "Insuring Against Drought: Evidence on Agricultural Intensification and Demand for Index Insurance from a Randomized Evaluation in Rural Bangladesh," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258090, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Mayra Buvinic & Megan O’Donnell, 2017. "Gender Matters in Economic Empowerment Interventions: A Research Review - Working Paper 456," Working Papers 456, Center for Global Development.
    7. 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.
    8. Trestini, Samuel & Giampietri, Elisa & Smiglak-Krajewska, Magdalena, 2018. "Farmer behaviour towards the agricultural risk management tools provided by the CAP: a comparison between Italy and Poland," 162nd Seminar, April 26-27, 2018, Budapest, Hungary 271978, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Hill, Ruth Vargas & Kumar, Neha & Magnan, Nicholas & Makhija, Simrin & de Nicola, Francesca & Spielman, David J. & Ward, Patrick S., 2017. "Insuring against droughts: Evidence on agricultural intensification and index insurance demand from a randomized evaluation in rural Bangladesh," IFPRI discussion papers 1630, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Wouterse, Fleur & Andrijevic, Marina & Schaeffer, Michiel, 2022. "The microeconomics of adaptation: Evidence from smallholders in Ethiopia and Niger," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    11. Hill, Ruth Vargas & Kumar, Neha & Magnan, Nicholas & Makhija, Simrin & de Nicola, Francesca & Spielman, David J. & Ward, Patrick S., 2019. "Ex ante and ex post effects of hybrid index insurance in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 1-17.

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    Keywords

    Risk; Insurance; Gender; Women; Finance; savings;
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