Rice farmers’ perception and willingness to pay for agricultural insurance in Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed rice farmers’ perception and willingness to pay for agricultural insurance in Anambra State. It ascertained respondents’ awareness of agricultural insurance, subscription to insurance policy, perception of agricultural insurance, and their willingness to pay for insurance policy. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select one hundred and forty-eight rice farmers for the study. Data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analysed with percentages, mean scores, and Probit regression analysis. The majority of the respondents are aware of agricultural insurance but 87.6% of the respondents did not subscribe to insurance policy even with their favourable perception of agricultural insurance (x ̅=2.6) and their willingness to pay for it (x ̅=2.7). Age (β=-1.832), cooperative membership (β=0.250), previous experience with agricultural risk (β=1.106), cost of the premium (-0.114), and debt amount (β=-2.115) significantly influence rice farmers willingness to pay for an insurance policy. Rice farmers’ have a favourable perception of agricultural insurance and are willing to pay for it. The government should subsidize insurance premiums for farmers