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It looks like insurers will have to pay closer attention to what small-scale farmers need if they’re intent on getting more of them protected against climate change risks.
Citing thought leaders present during an international conference organised by the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a Thomson Reuters Foundation report said there’s little proof that insurance programmes for farmers actually cater for the ‘poorest’.
Bidisha Barooah, an evaluation specialist at the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, told Thomson Reuters’ charitable arm that many have not taken out insurance either because the offerings do not match their needs or the premiums do not fit their paying capacity.
According to Barooah, insurers have not invested enough to identify what the market wants.
In developing countries, for instance, part of the problem lies in the lack of data needed to come up with good insurance products.
“This has a big impact on the quality of the product and the willingness of clients to pay for that product,” Thomson Reuters Foundation quoted IFAD’s Francesco Rispoli as saying. A specialist in rural financial services, Rispoli also noted the challenge of getting farmers to allot additional resources for protection against climate shocks that may not happen often.
