This study investigates the relationships between financial inclusion, gender and household welfare. The results of the study show that male-headed households are more financially included and have better welfare status than female-headed households, and that financial inclusion is associated with the welfare status of farmers.
A flexible blend of three indexed financial instruments to manage risk have the potential of meeting a rural family’s circumstances and need, strengthening their resilience across their journey to prosperity.
Rigorous field trials across Africa show that agricultural index insurance can stabilize small-scale farmers financially after a shock and even increase their agricultural investments, both of which could improve productivity and profitability in the West African cotton value chain.
Midline results from an ongoing impact evaluation in northern Kenya found that a comprehensive livelihood building program yielded substantial economic benefits for women directly enrolled as well as their non-enrolled neighbors.
This report summarizes the impacts of a 2014-2018 RCT in Nepal in partnership with Heifer International to test the impacts of a livestock transfer and training program seeking to help the rural poor, particularly women,
achieve a stable, independent and growing income.
A printed phone directory in Tanzania had significant impacts by connecting small-scale farmers with agriculture-related enterprises. The project’s results suggest directory services have substantial value for agriculture.
A temporary “learning” subsidy for commercially sourced fertilizers could help to expand the reach of Kenya's subsidy programs while supporting the commercial markets that will sustain long-term adoption.
In Tanzania, an experimental game found that a hybrid microloan with a 20% individual collateral increased individual effort and repayment for group loans while reducing the number of farmers who choose to borrow.
By adapting traditional financial products delivered by microfinance institutions, and making them more flexible to meet the needs of farmers and rural inhabitants, many of these challenges faced by index insurance can be overcome.