Your search found 11 records
1 Damayanthi, M. K. N.; Champika, P. A. J. 2014. An evaluation of Samurdhi banks in poverty alleviation. Colombo, Sri Lanka: Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI). 88p. (HARTI Research Report 165)
Poverty ; Cooperative banks ; Performance evaluation ; Microfinance ; Development projects ; Households ; Income ; Bank loans ; Policy ; Socioeconomic environment ; Rural areas / Sri Lanka / Kalutara / Ratnapura / Monaragala / Anuradhapura / Kurunegala / Batticaloa / Vavuniya / Jaffna
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 334.2 G744 DAM Record No: H046642)
(0.36 MB)
2 Sugden, Fraser; de Silva, Sanjiv; Clement, Floriane; Maskey-Amatya, Niki; Ramesh, Vidya; Philip, Anil; Bharati, Luna. 2014. A framework to understand gender and structural vulnerability to climate change in the Ganges River Basin: lessons from Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 50p. (IWMI Working Paper 159) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2014.230]
Climate change ; Adaptation ; Gender ; River basins ; Economic aspects ; Income ; Microfinance ; Social structure ; Political aspects ; Labor ; Health hazards ; Risk management ; Waterborne diseases ; Natural disasters ; Education ; Living standards ; Poverty ; Households ; Agriculture ; Collective action / Bangladesh / India / Nepal / Ganges River Basin
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H046843)
(680 KB)
As climate change becomes accepted as a reality in the scientific community, it is critical to continue to understand its impact on the ground, particularly for communities dependent on agriculture and natural resources. This report reviews the extensive literature on the vulnerability to climate change in South Asia, with a focus on gender. It highlights how vulnerability is intricately connected to existing social structures. With respects to gender inequalities, the report reviews how men and women are affected in different ways by climate shocks, while differing access to resources and cultural ideologies mean that their capacity to ‘adapt’ is also not equal. The report also notes the importance of other axes of inequality (caste, class and ethnicity) in shaping gendered vulnerability. It concludes by offering insights into potential ways forward to promote more equitable adaptation to change through improved policies and practices.
3 Abate, G. T.; Rashid, S.; Borzaga, C.; Getnet, Kindie. 2015. Rural finance and agricultural technology adoption in Ethiopia: does institutional design matter? Washington, DC, USA: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 36p. (IFPRI Discussion Paper 01422)
Rural areas ; Rural finance ; Microfinance ; Agricultural credit ; Technology transfer ; Smallholders ; Institutions ; Households ; Cooperatives ; Farmers ; Impact assessment ; Land ownership ; Fertilizers ; Economic aspects ; Surveys / Ethiopia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H046934)
http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01422.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046934.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H046934.pdf
(0.94 MB)
Financial cooperatives and microfinance institutions (MFIs) are the two major sources of rural finance in Ethiopia. Whereas MFIs are relatively new, financial cooperatives have existed for centuries in various forms. The coexistence of two different institutions serving the same group of people, and delivering the same financial services, raises several policy questions. Those questions have become particularly relevant, as the government has embarked on developing a new strategy for improving rural financial services delivery. This study is expected to serve as an input to that policy discussion. Using a unique household survey dataset and the propensity-score-matching technique, we examine the impacts of the two financial service providers on agricultural technology adoption. The results suggest that access to institutional finance has significant positive impacts on both the adoption and extent of technology use. However, when impacts are disaggregated by type of financial institution and farm size, considerable heterogeneities are observed. In particular, financial cooperatives have a greater impact on technology adoption than do MFIs, and the impacts appear to vary depending on farm size and types of inputs. The underlying implications of these results are discussed in light of the country’s rural finance policies and programs.
4 Momsen, J. 2010. Gender and development. 2nd ed. Oxon, UK: Routledge. 285p. (Routledge Perspectives on Development)
Gender ; Women in development ; Economic sectors ; Social change ; Households ; Violence ; Equity ; Education ; Health hazards ; Sex ratio ; Migration ; Sexual reproduction ; Environmental effects ; Drinking water ; Forests ; Biodiversity ; Agricultural development ; Labour market ; Time study ; Microfinance ; Urbanization ; Waste management ; Globalization ; Rural areas / Caribbean / Middle East / South Asia / Sri Lanka / Bangladesh / Singapore / China / Romania / Lesotho
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: 305.42 G000 MOM Record No: H047633)
(0.43 MB)
5 Becchetti, L.; Castriota, S.; Conzo, P. 2017. Disaster, aid, and preferences: the long-run impact of the tsunami on giving in Sri Lanka. World Development, 94:157-173. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2016.12.014]
Natural disasters ; Tsunamis ; Disaster recovery ; Development aid ; Social behaviour ; Attitudes ; Financial institutions ; Microfinance ; Loans ; Socioeconomic environment ; Econometrics ; Sensitivity analysis ; Regression analysis ; Villages ; Experimentation / Sri Lanka / Galle / Matara / Hambantota
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048148)
(0.38 MB)
Do natural disasters produce effects on preferences of victims in the long run? We test the impact of the tsunami shock on generosity of a sample of Sri Lankan affected/unaffected microfinance borrowers seven years after the event.
Specifically, we test the effect of the shock at the extensive margin by comparing damaged with non-damaged individuals in terms of giving and expected giving in a dictator game. Moreover, at the intensive margin, we compare the participants based on the amount of damage experienced and recovery aid received. The advantage of this last comparison is that differences in observables between the groups are minimized. We reduce further identification problems by selecting a random sample of damaged and non-damaged borrowers belonging to the same microfinance organization who are, therefore, likely to share some important common traits that are usually unobservable to researchers. We complete our identification strategy with weighted least squares, instrumental variable estimates and a sensitivity analysis on the exogeneity assumption.
The main findings of the paper support the hypothesis that the shock affects participants’ preferences in the long run. First, the tsunami negatively affects generosity at the extensive margin as those who suffered at least one damage give and expect less than those who did not. Second, while large recovery assistance does not directly affect giving and expected giving, it increases especially the latter indirectly, i.e., when interacted with the number of damages.
Our results reconcile that part of the literature showing evidence of natural shocks having a detrimental effect on social preferences (Fleming, Chong, Alberto, & Bejarano, 2011; Cassar, Grosjean, & Whitt, 2013) with that supporting, instead, a positive link (Solnit, 2009; Whitt & Wilson, 2007; Cassar, Healy, & Von Kessler, 2011). Furthermore, since our study focuses on the long-run impact of a natural disaster, previous results on short-run effects are not necessarily inconsistent with ours.
Specifically, we test the effect of the shock at the extensive margin by comparing damaged with non-damaged individuals in terms of giving and expected giving in a dictator game. Moreover, at the intensive margin, we compare the participants based on the amount of damage experienced and recovery aid received. The advantage of this last comparison is that differences in observables between the groups are minimized. We reduce further identification problems by selecting a random sample of damaged and non-damaged borrowers belonging to the same microfinance organization who are, therefore, likely to share some important common traits that are usually unobservable to researchers. We complete our identification strategy with weighted least squares, instrumental variable estimates and a sensitivity analysis on the exogeneity assumption.
The main findings of the paper support the hypothesis that the shock affects participants’ preferences in the long run. First, the tsunami negatively affects generosity at the extensive margin as those who suffered at least one damage give and expect less than those who did not. Second, while large recovery assistance does not directly affect giving and expected giving, it increases especially the latter indirectly, i.e., when interacted with the number of damages.
Our results reconcile that part of the literature showing evidence of natural shocks having a detrimental effect on social preferences (Fleming, Chong, Alberto, & Bejarano, 2011; Cassar, Grosjean, & Whitt, 2013) with that supporting, instead, a positive link (Solnit, 2009; Whitt & Wilson, 2007; Cassar, Healy, & Von Kessler, 2011). Furthermore, since our study focuses on the long-run impact of a natural disaster, previous results on short-run effects are not necessarily inconsistent with ours.
6 Merrey, D. J.; Lefore, Nicole. 2018. Improving the availability and effectiveness of rural and “Micro” finance for small-scale irrigation in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of lessons learned. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 46p. (IWMI Working Paper 185) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2018.225]
Financing ; Microfinance ; Rural finance ; Financial institutions ; Small scale systems ; Agricultural credit ; Women’s participation ; Empowerment ; Rural communities ; Irrigation equipment ; Irrigation schemes ; Drip irrigation ; Pumps ; Solar energy ; Smallholders ; Farming systems ; Households ; Supply chain ; Microcredit ; Credit policies ; Investment ; Poverty ; Water resources ; Business models ; Grants ; Insurance ; Farmer-led irrigation ; Case studies / Africa South of Sahara / Kenya / Rwanda / Senegal / Burkina Faso
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H049027)
(718 KB)
This paper reviews the evidence available on the provision of financing for African smallholder farmers to purchase irrigation equipment such as pumps, pipes and drip irrigation systems. It sets the scene by first reviewing the literature on experiences with providing microcredit and other microfinance services as a poverty reduction strategy. Based on both case studies and several systematic reviews of the literature, it finds that the outcomes and impacts on poverty, gender equity and broader economic development are mixed at best. Microcredit is not a silver bullet solution to poverty, but it can often help poor households improve their lives. The paper then reviews the demand for and supply of financing for smallholders to purchase irrigation equipment. In surveys, farmers express a strong demand for equipment such as pumps, but often point to the lack of affordable and appropriately designed credit as a critical impediment to gaining access to such equipment. Even where microfinance institutions offer agricultural credit, it is usually short-term seasonal credit to purchase seeds and fertilizer. Credit on these terms is not useful to purchase equipment costing several hundred dollars. Focusing on programs specifically aimed at enabling farmers to purchase irrigation equipment, no credible detailed studies were found documenting the impacts and lessons learned. However, there are currently (as of 2018) numerous promising pilot studies and small projects offering a variety of approaches to enable smallholders to make such purchases. The paper reviews what information is available on these. A major recommendation of this paper is that a research project should be designed to carry out studies of these various experiments to identify what works under what conditions, as a basis for scaling out programs to offer financial services aimed at assisting smallholders to gain access to small-scale irrigation equipment.
7 Aheeyar, Mohamed; de Silva, Sanjiv; Senaratna Sellamuttu, Sonali; Arulingam, Indika. 2019. Unpacking barriers to socially inclusive weather index insurance: towards a framework for inclusion. Water, 11(11):2235. (Special issue: Selected Papers from 2019 World Water Week) [doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/w11112235]
Weather hazards ; Agricultural insurance ; Flooding ; Climate change ; Resilience ; Gender equity ; Gender equality ; Women ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Socioeconomic environment ; Landlessness ; Strategies ; Microfinance ; Nongovernmental organizations ; Case studies ; Villages / India / Bangladesh / Bihar / Sirajganj
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H049374)
(0.29 MB) (296 KB)
Floods account for a majority of disasters, especially in South Asia, where they affect 27 million people annually, causing economic losses of over US$1 billion. Climate change threatens to exacerbate these risks. Risk transfer mechanisms, such as weather index insurance (WII) may help buffer farmers against these hazards. However, WII programs struggle to attract the clients most in need of protection, including marginalized women and men. This risks re-enforcing existing inequalities and missing opportunities to promote pro-poor and gender-sensitive development. Key questions, therefore, include what factors constrain access to WIIs amongst heterogeneous communities, and how these can be addressed. This paper contributes to that end through primary data from two WII case studies (one in India, the other in Bangladesh) that identify contextual socio-economic and structural barriers to accessing WII, and strategies to overcome these. More significantly, this paper synthesizes the case study findings and those from a review of the literature on other WII initiatives into a framework to promote a systematic approach to address these challenges: an important step forward in moving from problem analysis to remedial action. The framework highlights actions across WII product design, implementation and post-implementation, to minimize risks of social exclusion in future WII schemes.
8 Karn, Sujeet; Sugden, Fraser; Sah, K. K.; Maharjan, J.; Shah, T. N.; Clement, F. 2020. Shifting gender relations in agriculture and irrigation in the Nepal Tarai-Madhesh. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE). 34p. (WLE Research for Development (R4D) Learning Series 10) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2020.211]
Gender relations ; Agricultural sector ; Women’s participation ; Women’s empowerment ; Gender equality ; Vulnerability ; Groundwater irrigation ; Communities ; Migration ; Role of women ; Farmers ; Land ownership ; Land tenure ; Water availability ; Irrigation canals ; Tube wells ; Climate change ; Water user associations ; Capacity building ; Social change ; Caste systems ; Households ; Livelihoods ; Villages ; Constraints ; Labour ; Poverty ; Economic resources ; Microfinance ; Remittances ; Enterprises ; Institutions ; Decision making ; State intervention / Nepal / Eastern Gangetic Plains / Tarai-Madhesh Region / Sunsari / Siraha / Ekamba Village Development Committee / Amaduwa Village Development Committee / Lohani / Kharotole / Bhagwanpur / Fulkahakati
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H050103)
(2.95 MB)
This report explores how women perceive participation and empowerment vis-a-vis access to water and other agricultural resources in the Tarai/Madhesh of Nepal. The report argues that gendered vulnerability is indeed intricately connected with other axes of difference, such as caste and economic status, despite women’s critical role in agricultural production and their active engagement in access to water and irrigation in agriculture. Overall, women’s well-being seems to have decreased as a consequence of male out-migration. However, there are women who have also become empowered in new ways, taking up enterprise opportunities.
The authors point out that at the level of policy and external development interventions, a dominating narrative on women’s limited participation in agriculture being a result of ‘social norms’ exists. Public irrigation agencies have used this myth to absolve themselves of the responsibility for ensuring gender equality in program implementation.
The report concludes that strengthening equitable irrigation user groups alongside capacity building for farmers and program implementers are critical measures for improving women’s access to irrigation and overall well-being. Women should be ensured meaningful participation, including leadership roles.
Finally, this report recommends linking irrigation user groups to other income-generation schemes, and facilitating access to better credit, finance and agricultural inputs.
The authors point out that at the level of policy and external development interventions, a dominating narrative on women’s limited participation in agriculture being a result of ‘social norms’ exists. Public irrigation agencies have used this myth to absolve themselves of the responsibility for ensuring gender equality in program implementation.
The report concludes that strengthening equitable irrigation user groups alongside capacity building for farmers and program implementers are critical measures for improving women’s access to irrigation and overall well-being. Women should be ensured meaningful participation, including leadership roles.
Finally, this report recommends linking irrigation user groups to other income-generation schemes, and facilitating access to better credit, finance and agricultural inputs.
9 Balana, B.; Mekonnen, D.; Haile, B.; Hagos, Fitsum; Yimam, S.; Ringler, C. 2020. Are smallholder farmers credit constrained? evidence on demand and supply constraints of credit in Ethiopia and Tanzania. Washington, DC, USA: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). 28p. (IFPRI Discussion Paper 01974) [doi: https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134152]
Agricultural credit ; Loans ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Supply balance ; Constraints ; Households ; Gender ; Women ; Socioeconomic environment ; Technology transfer ; Adoption ; Microfinance ; Financial institutions ; Risk factors ; Policies ; Small scale systems ; Irrigation ; Econometric models / Ethiopia / United Republic of Tanzania
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H050170)
https://ebrary.ifpri.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/134152/filename/134363.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050170.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H050170.pdf
(1.02 MB) (1.02 MB)
Credit constraint is considered by many as one of the key barriers to adoption of modern agricultural technologies, such as chemical fertilizer, improved seeds, and irrigation technologies, among smallholders. Past research and much policy discourse associates agricultural credit constraints with supply-side factors, such as limited access to credit sources or high costs of borrowing. However, demand-side factors, such as risk-aversion and financial illiteracy among borrowers, as well as high transaction costs, can also play important roles in credit-rationing for smallholders. Using primary survey data from Ethiopia and Tanzania, this study examines the nature of credit constraints facing smallholders and the factors that affect credit constraints. In addition, we assess whether credit constraints are gender-differentiated. Results show that demand-side credit constraints are at least as important as supply-side factors in both countries. Women are more likely to be credit constrained (from both the supply and demand sides) than men. Based on these findings, we suggest that policies should focus on addressing both supply- and demand-side credit constraints, including through targeted interventions to reduce risk, such as crop insurance and gender-sensitive policies to improve women’s access to credit.
10 Amarnath, Giriraj; Malik, Ravinder Paul Singh; Taron, Avinandan. 2021. Scaling up Index-based Flood Insurance (IBFI) for agricultural resilience and flood-proofing livelihoods in developing countries. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 68p. (IWMI Research Report 180) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2021.213]
Flooding ; Resilience ; Agricultural insurance ; Crop insurance ; Livelihoods ; Developing countries ; Scaling ; Disaster risk management ; Risk transfer ; Business models ; Product development ; Marketing ; Public-private partnerships ; Stakeholders ; State intervention ; Financial institutions ; Microfinance ; Smallholders ; Farmers ; Awareness raising ; Climate change ; Satellite observation ; Rivers ; Rain ; Flood damage ; Crop losses ; Compensation ; Subsidies ; Legal aspects ; Economic aspects ; Social aspects ; Drought ; Case studies / India / Kenya / Rwanda / United Republic of Tanzania / Malawi / Ethiopia / Senegal / Zambia / Thailand / Brazil / Mexico / Mongolia
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H050608)
(3.14 MB)
This research report presents the first comprehensive framework of business models in terms of developing, marketing and scaling Index-based flood insurance (IBFI). The report evaluated ten case studies on agricultural insurance schemes (macro, meso and micro levels), globally, to develop public-private partnership business models for creating value (product development) and capturing value (product marketing). This report highlights four broad groups of interrelated factors that influence the uptake and scaling of agricultural insurance: (i) behavioral factors that influence farmers’ enthusiasm to invest in insurance; (ii) financial factors that stipulate governments’ willingness to provide financial support; (iii) legal and regulatory factors, which set ground rules for fair business and govern their adherence by stakeholders; and (iv) facilitating factors, including product design and development, business models, research and development, data availability, and awareness creation, which help ensure an efficient supply of insurance services. In summary, the report highlights the need for designing innovative IBFI and its potential benefits for uptake, and efforts for implementing IBFI as a potential risk transfer tool for comprehensive climate risk management among small-scale and marginal farmers.
11 Belhaj Fraj, Makram; Al-Dabbas, L.; Al-Zyoud, O.; Abu Keshek, A.; Fragaszy, Stephen; Ruckstuhl, Sandra; McDonnell, Rachael. 2022. Initial drought risk finance market assessment for Jordan. Project report prepared by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) for the Bureau for the Middle East of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Washington, DC, USA: USAID; Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 51p. [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2023.214]
Drought ; Risk management ; Finance ; Assessment ; Risk transfer ; Agricultural sector ; Livestock ; Agricultural insurance ; Microfinance ; Investment ; Smallholders ; Farmer participation ; Risk reduction ; Community organizations ; Women ; Youth / Middle East / North Africa / Jordan
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052342)
(1.51 MB)
Powered by DB/Text WebPublisher, from
