|
Abstract:
This research explored the factors influencing the adoption of agriculture insurance by small holder farmers in Imenti South sub-county in Meru Kenya. The objectives of the study were to examine the influence of accessibility on adoption of agriculture insurance by small holder farmers and to determine how farmer training influences the adoption of agriculture insurance by small holder farmers. This study employed descriptive research design and focused on 204 farmers and 30 officers from the 6 wards in the County as the target population. The sample size was 204 respondents, made up of 160 farmers and 30 officials who were randomly sampled based on the 30% rule. Questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were used to collect data which was analyzed using appropriate descriptive statistics. The research established that 55% of the farmers had never received training with only 12.5% receiving training often. Lack of information and knowledge by farmers explains the slow adoption of agriculture insurance. Further, half (50% of the respondent farmers noted that there were no insurance firms offering agriculture insurance products within their region. The study recommends that insurance companies should therefore conduct vigorous training to small scale farmers through channels such as radio, television and press, these firms should also take a crop by crop approach to make it easier to train small holder farmers, to develop appropriate products for them and to receive feedback on the issues affecting the uptake of these products by the farmers. In addition, simplification of the policy wordings and documentation will also help increase insurance uptake. Finally, insurance firms should also encourage small scale farmers to form organized groups. Through the groups, the insurance firms will be able to pass relevant information about agriculture insurance to the farmers.
|
