Mind the Gender Gap in Farmers’ Preferences for Weather-Index Insurance

Abstract

Weather-related risks are major sources of farm income fluctuations for rural households in low-income countries. To buffer against such risks and to encourage investment in intensified and high-value production, weather-index insurance (WII) is increasingly suggested for smallholder farmers in Bangladesh. In a WII scheme, payouts occur when a specified weather parameter is surpassed, for example if seasonal rainfall falls below a specified threshold indicative of drought status. The chosen threshold must be objective, reliably measured and strongly positively correlated with the insured’s losses. With relatively less access to resources and assets to cope with disruptive storm events, women in Bangladesh tend to be among the poorest and the most vulnerable to weather shocks. Relative to their male counterparts, women experience gender gaps with less access to finance, inputs, education and associated agricultural extension services, indicating a lack of access to services and information that could help buffer against the negative impacts of weather-related production shocks. Eliminating gender gaps in agriculture by ensuring women farmers’ adequate and equal access to agricultural finance, while also reducing investment risks, is thus paramount to achieving Bangladesh’s development goals to eliminate extreme poverty and hunger and to promote gender equality through women’s empowerment.