Economics of weather index-based insurance: analysis of smallholder farmers' preferences and the impact of insurance on productivity in Kenya

Climatic risks are a major challenge for rural communities, especially those whose livelihoods directly depend on agriculture. Weather extremes affect crop productivity not only through the direct relationship between weather variables and yields, but also through the negative effects of such shocks on farmers’ investment behavior. In particular, smallholder farmers are vulnerable partly because they are predominantly located in the tropics where exposure to climate variability is high, but also because they lack the resources and the capacity to properly cope with risks. Agricultural insur...