PARTNER
Pula
SECTOR
Financial Inclusion
PROJECT TYPE
Field and Lab Experiments
BEHAVIORAL THEME
Inclusion | Trust
OVERVIEW
This study looked to find the impact of bundling government input loans with insurance among smallholder farmers in Nigeria. We were particularly interested in farmer desirability, trust and perceived risk. We also explored which organization trusted the most to manage insured loans and examined the effectiveness of social cues in improving perceptions of the insured load program.
The study included a total sample of 1,645 smallholder farmers primarily engaged in rice, maize, and legume production. Desirability, trust, and perceived risk were measured by analyzing willingness to register and recommend the insured input loan program, confidence or satisfaction levels, and reported risk ratings.
The findings revealed that farmers were more likely to share and show interest in the insured input loan program when a national farming body was described as the organization responsible for managing it compared to a government provider. Additionally, altering the subject of insurance cover to focus on livelihood instead of crops or self had significant impacts on farmer trust and satisfaction. Detailed procedural explanations of how insurance works were found to reduce perceived risk, while social norms and social proof had limited effects on desirability and trust.
