Tools & Guidance

This brief aims to better equip practitioners and financial service providers in considering risk and resilience in financial service program design, as well as considering which meso and macro-level mechanisms can...

In many developing countries, microfinance institutions (MFIs) are well established throughout rural areas, with high functioning savings groups already in existence. These groups of about 15-30 members usually meet...

Increasing access to credit can spur the adoption of more productive technologies, but may require reducing risk for both smallholder farmer and lender. In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), we investigated how...

Ecuador and several other Andean countries have prioritized the establishment and strengthening of agricultural insurance markets for smallholder farmers at risk of poverty. At the request of the Ecuadorian...

Risk management and resilience are becoming a focus for how to support and empower agricultural households who are vulnerable to weather-related shocks. Index insurance has shown tremendous promise where conventional...

An agricultural index insurance contract’s quality is hidden. On its surface, farmers considering a policy or national governments seeking to subsidize coverage have no way to know whether a product has the potential...

In an experimental game in Tanzania, we tested how a small individual collateral requirement would affect the decision to borrow and individual effort under a group loan. A 20-percent collateral increased individual...

Drought-tolerant seeds are designed to protect farmers from moderate, mid-season drought, but can still fail when conditions are severe. In Tanzania and Mozambique the project paired drought-tolerant maize (DTM...