Exploring Sustainability Features and Determinants of Agricultural Insurance Programmes in Low-income Countries

Abstract

Agriculture is the main occupation and source of livelihood for the majority of the inhabitants in low-income countries. However, agricultural activities in these countries are confronted with a plethora of challenges, including production and marketing risks. Some of the farmers in low-income countries have been employing autonomous and planned adaptation strategies, including agricultural insurance contracts to cope with the agricultural risks. Agricultural insurance has been acclaimed to possess enormous potential for managing agricultural risks in low-income countries. This study employed the literature review approach to identify the features and determinants of sustainable agricultural insurance programmes in low-income countries. The study found that the appropriate institutional arrangements, socio-economic and ecological pillars could interact to make agricultural insurance programmes in low-income countries sustainable. Since most low-income countries are still piloting and up scaling their agricultural insurance programmes, I recommend incorporating the institutional, socio-economic and ecological dimensions into the design and implementation of their agricultural insurance schemes.