Researchers supported by the Feed the Future Assets & Market Access Innovation Lab launched an Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) pilot in the Marsabit District of northern Kenya.
Index insurance shows considerable promise, especially in settings like the arid and semi-arid lands of east Africa where conventional insurance to cover potentially catastrophic herd losses does not exist.
Index-based livestock insurance (IBLI), aims to protect against the covariate risk of catastrophic livestock loss due to drought. Understanding what determines access to IBLI by gender can shape strategies to equitably provide access to this and other innovative risk management products.
The Borana plateau in southern Ethiopia is a vast arid and semi-arid pastoralist territory. Livestock in this area comprise the majority of household’s non-human capital and are responsible for more than two-thirds of their average income.
As hypothesized, significant profitable opportunities for increased fertilizer use appear to exist in Ethiopia, but farmers are constrained by cash availability and credit.
This evidence indicates that the offer of a voucher had enormous impact on take-up rates. Even relatively small subsidies, however, significantly increased up-take rates to almost 40 percent.
Careful analysis of the links between risk, mediating mechanisms and welfare dynamics can lead to informed and effective strategies that help households protect and accumulate assets, leading in turn to a foundation for poverty reduction and economic growth.