A gender-sensitive analysis of farmers' predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance services in climate-vulnerable areas

Abstract

The predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance refers to farmers' willingness to take out insurance to protect their farms against agricultural risks, particularly climatic risks. The aim of the study was to analyse the factors influencing farmers' decisions on whether or not to take out agricultural insurance. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire from 318 randomly selected households in ten (10) districts of the commune of Dassa-Zoumé (central Benin). Binary logistic regression with the logit link was performed using R statistical analysis software. The results show that the correlation between gender and predisposition to adopt agricultural insurance is not significant. On the other hand, the correlation was significant with the type of farmer. Farmers producing for commercial purposes (88.25%) are more predisposed to adopt agricultural insurance than those producing for subsistence. Also, the perceived complexity of insurance exerted a significant negative influence on the predisposition to adopt. These results indicate that the higher the probability of occurrence and the magnitude of the financial damage associated with the risk, the greater the farmer's willingness to adopt agricultural insurance, provided that the mechanism for setting up the insurance system is simple.

Key words: predisposition, adoption, gender, agricultural insurance, Benin.

Classification JEL : G22, J16, N50

Paper type : Empirical Research