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Background Women are key players in agriculture, but they are under-resourced, particularly in terms of finance. Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women, but using the benefits of digital technology can help scale it up and ensure its long-term viability. Methods The study area was Southern Nigeria. Respondents were women agripreneurs (n=479), from six states. 239 women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and 240 women agripreneurs who did not access financial products participated in the survey in 2019. Results The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants in digital finance indicated a T-value of 3.214 (P< 0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the income of those that are accessing digital financial products (DFPs) and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p Conclusions Women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products earned more income and saved more than those who are not accessing digital financial products. This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business. Micro-insurance is poorly accessed in Nigeria, and awareness of insurance products is moderately low. This study recommends that Central Bank of Nigeria should engage in more outreach programmes to enable all women in Nigeria access digital financial products because of its convenience and contributions to success in business. Insurance companies should capitalize on business models that incorporate mobile technologies in order to increase insurance penetration in rural areas.

Background Women are key players in agriculture, but they are under-resourced, particularly in terms of finance. Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women, but using the benefits of digital technology can help scale it up and ensure its long-term viability. Methods The study area was Southern Nigeria. Respondents were women agripreneurs (n=479), from six states. 239 women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and 240 women agripreneurs who did not access financial products participated in the survey in 2019. Results The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants in digital finance indicated a T-value of 3.214 (P< 0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the income of those that are accessing digital financial products (DFPs) and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p

Poverty alleviation is a global problem. To alleviate poverty, microfinancing is used through microfinance institutions. There are many publications comprising empirical and literature review articles beside others focusing on this issue. Subjectivity bias is one of the issues that is seen in the literature reviews in an area of interest. This study answers the problem based on the bibliometric analysis of microfinance, micro‐finance institutions, micro‐insurance, micro‐savings, and financial inclusion with other synonyms using the Scopus Database. This article focuses on overall historical trends, publication output, prolific authors and journals, google mapping of the world‐renowned academic institutions, and highlights the shortcoming of the Scopus database by utilizing software for the first time. We use VOSviewer, for co‐authorship analysis and our results underline the leading role of United States contribution to a greater extent, while co‐citation analysis shows emerging hotspots such as financial technology including fintech, crowdfunding, and financial literacy. We concluded limited attention from scholars towards natural‐resource revenues, financial development using fintech, and crowdfunding regarding poverty alleviation. Furthermore, for the interest of the development researchers and practitioners, we have highlighted the conceptual framework for financial development, natural resource abundance, economic growth nexus through fintech, crowdfunding, financial literacy to curb poverty as new avenues for future research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microinsurance is an important risk mitigation strategy in smallholder farmers’ agricultural enterprises that are faced with intensifying climate change and unpredictability. This study analysed the perceptions of smallholder tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe’s tobacco-growing regions of the Mashonaland Provinces towards microinsurance as a risk coping strategy given the risks of hailstorms, droughts, and long-dry spells in the rainy season. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted with 13 purposively selected small-scale tobacco farmers. The study employed unstructured interviews to collect data from the participants. The findings of the study suggest that smallholder farmers have a positive perception of microinsurance, against the general view that they have a negative attitude. The study found that other risks with which smallholder farmers are faced and their immediate risk response, tolerance and disposition may have a distorting effect on the smallholder farmers’ perceptions and attitude towards microinsurance. It was further found that the perception of the smallholder farmers was also influenced by whether the farmers had other sources of income, whether they previously had experienced crop losses due to weather-induced risks and the general level of education of the smallholder farmer. It was also found that most of the micro-insurance services offered were mainly supply-side driven rather than demand-side driven and as a result, most of the products were not farmer-centric. New product development, farmer-centric insurance service offerings and general farmer sensitisation on the need for microinsurance were recommended.

Background Women are key players in agriculture, but they are under-resourced, particularly in terms of finance. Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women, but using the benefits of digital technology can help scale it up and ensure its long-term viability. Methods The study area was Southern Nigeria. Respondents were women agripreneurs (n=479), from six states. 239 women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and 240 women agripreneurs who did not access financial products participated in the survey in 2019. Results The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants in digital finance indicated a T-value of 3.214 (P< 0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the income of those that are accessing digital financial products (DFPs) and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p Conclusions Women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products earned more income and saved more than those who are not accessing digital financial products. This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business. Micro-insurance is poorly accessed in Nigeria, and awareness of insurance products is moderately low. This study recommends that Central Bank of Nigeria should engage in more outreach programmes to enable all women in Nigeria access digital financial products because of its convenience and contributions to success in business. Insurance companies should capitalize on business models that incorporate mobile technologies in order to increase insurance penetration in rural areas.

Abstract Microfinance is critical for the development of micro-enterprises and alleviating poverty. However, micro-enterprises are able to get microfinance services, they would face a variety of obstacles, due to the misunderstandings among many stakeholders, microfinance has not acquired widespread acceptance. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate microfinance's impact on the sustainable development of Malaysia’s rural micro-enterprises. Besides, digital finance is integrated into the conceptual model to further investigate their mediating impact. Data was collected from 563 rural micro-enterprises using structured questionnaires, which were then statistically analyzed using AMOS-21. The findings of the study reveal that microfinance has a positive substantial influence on rural micro-enterprises development. Moreover, digital finance partially mediates the relationship. Thus, the study concludes that microfinance institutions are needed to adopt digital finance to enhance micro enterprises’ productivity through low transaction costs. The findings of the study can be useful to policymakers in the micro-enterprise sector who have a long-term vision and expect the sector to develop steadily. The study also provides scope and space for future academics and scholars to conduct further research.

The recent trajectory of micro-insurance in Africa lies at the intersection of two trends that have been percolating unevenly over the past decades: (1) the incorporation of micro-insurance into the practices of FinTech; and (2) the reframing of micro-insurance as a technology relevant to the management of 'climate risk.' I focus on digital experiments in the construction of platforms which access data from remote sensing 'earth observation' technologies to formulate unique indices of climate risk. These platforms mediate the antinomies of presence/absence, place/distance; they operate 'remotely' from the risks they constitute and map while claiming an intimate and 'hyper-local' index of those risks. These mediations manage the distance between 'the ground' and the 'remote' sites from which knowledge of particular locations is produced, constituting new forms of territory and volume. I argue that these platforms entail unique uncertainties of their own: the ongoing problems of basis risk; costs imposed on vulnerable populations often unable to afford premiums; and issues of climate injustice in which responsibility is placed on poor populations to manage climate risks they had little role in creating in the first place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Women are key players in agriculture, but they are under-resourced, particularly in terms of finance. Microfinance has long been recognized as the most effective method of financially empowering these women, but using the benefits of digital technology can help scale it up and ensure its long-term viability. Methods The study area was Southern Nigeria. Respondents were women agripreneurs (n=479), from six states. 239 women agripreneurs who accessed digital financial products and 240 women agripreneurs who did not access financial products participated in the survey in 2019. Results The tests for significant difference between income of participants and non-participants in digital finance indicated a T-value of 3.214 (P< 0.001), which implies that there was a significant difference in the income of those that are accessing digital financial products (DFPs) and those that are not accessing DFPs. The tests for significant difference between savings of participants and non-participants indicated a T-value of 2.479 (p Conclusions Women agripreneurs who are accessing digital financial products earned more income and saved more than those who are not accessing digital financial products. This implies that you are more advantaged in using digital finance in business. Micro-insurance is poorly accessed in Nigeria, and awareness of insurance products is moderately low. This study recommends that Central Bank of Nigeria should engage in more outreach programmes to enable all women in Nigeria access digital financial products because of its convenience and contributions to success in business. Insurance companies should capitalize on business models that incorporate mobile technologies in order to increase insurance penetration in rural areas.

Low income earning workers such as the teachers in the public secondary schools, are faced with varying categories of financial risk which cannot e alleviated without the help of some other social arrangement such as microinsurance schemes. However, these scheme has not been well accepted among the teachers. The study however, looked at the reasons for the low acceptability. A stratified simple random sampling technique was used to collect data from a sample of 384 secondary school teachers in Lagos state, using regression analysis techniques. Adequate knowledge and well structured products designs of the micro-insurance products does not influence the acceptability of the products among the teachers. The study result however, shows that not making the products compulsory is the major factor that influence the acceptability among the teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distribution channels are believed to be key in the growth of micro-insurance. However, this has not been the case for insurance companies in Mbale district. In this regard, this study on the evaluation of the contribution of distribution channels to micro-insurance growth was carried out in Mbale district with aided by a cross sectional survey design taking into account both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Results of the study indicated a fairly strong positive relationship between use of direct selling, micro finance institutions (MFIs) and banks; vis-àvis micro-insurance. Also, findings revealed that distribution channels accounted for 0.5% growth in microinsurance growth in Mbale district. The study further concluded that there was a decimal contribution of distribution channels which was insignificant to micro-insurance growth in the district. The study recommends among other things, efforts to diversify the use of distribution channels in order to improve on micro-insurance growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-insurance has a protective role against risk in low-income households. The present study designed a micro-insurance development model for rural areas. The data was collected from 60 questionnaires given to experts of the Agricultural Insurance Fund and the Insurance Institute. The findings from the structural equation model developed using PLS show that the order of latent variables affecting on micro-insurance development were socio-cultural (B = 0.518), economic (B = 0.269) and educational (B = 0.265). The results showed that this model is appropriate for development of micro-insurance in rural areas for low-income households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to build a conceptual framework for community engagement in micro-insurance scheme design and deployment. The framework is founded on critical systems thinking literature that introduces the characteristics of openness, flexibility, and agility. The authors have focused on a community-led micro-insurance model, where the nature of the engagement itself underpins the success or failure of a scheme, due to their very nature of operations. Select systems thinking tools are introduced to better understand issues that arise in enhancing community engagement and flexibility, both of which are regarded as a critical aspect in the development of micro-insurance schemes. Reference and learning are drawn from an on-ground scheme in India implemented by the Micro Insurance Academy. The second author of this paper was the lead for this scheme. This is a proposed framework and is yet to be tested on ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that, far from collaborating with informal economic systems and actors, frugal innovation tends to treat informal economies as a pool of workers and organizational resources to be tapped for the benefit of corporate actors. I will examine how frugal innovation models selectively transform informal economic and institutional systems around formal economic interests, reconfiguring informal opportunities and the distribution of gains in ways that promote adverse incorporation of informal actors rather than mutual benefit. I will examine four mechanisms of adverse incorporation operating within frugal innovation models: copying, free-riding, bypassing nodes of accumulation and shifting risk. Drawing on case studies of M-Pesa and micro-insurance, I will illustrate the often selective and disempowering effects of frugal innovation, which operate to reconfigure informal economic systems in ways that divert profits and control away from informal operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses the modern state of development of medical insurance in Ukraine and also studies advantages and shortcomings of the use of micro-insurance for popularisation of programmes of voluntary medical insurance and satisfaction of needs in high quality medical services for all layers of the population. It identifies that as of today the Ukrainian healthcare system is at the stage of reformation, mandatory medical insurance is not yet introduced and main consumers of the programmes of voluntary medical insurance are corporate clients. The article considers main constraints of development of medical insurance in Ukraine, including: low level of income of the population; absence of high quality providers of medical services in regions; and insufficient degree of trust of the population to the insurance sphere. The article shows that introduction of micro-insurance would positively influence the development of insurance medicine in the country, would facilitate provision of medical services even for poor citizens and would allow reduction of state budget expenditures on healthcare. The conducted study of restrictions and shortcomings of introduction of micro-insurance allowed identification of the fact that main of them are information asymmetry (unfavourable selection of risks, moral risk and insurance fraud), significant limitation of insurance coverage and difficulties in identifying optimal insurance tariffs.

Bundling micro-insurance with loans should help not only decrease costs and therefore increase take-up but may also decrease financial inclusion if the insurance and/or loan are refused. We implement a randomised control trial in which a voluntary crop micro-insurance product is offered jointly with a loan application or separately (at a later date). The delayed offer of insurance did not influence overall insurance take-up or coverage amount but had heterogeneous impacts by crop, supporting the idea that bundling microfinance products is an opportunity more than a constraint. Yet, low product understanding also highlights the need for well-designed and effective consumer protection policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Microinsurance has recently received much attention as a promising tool to protect poor individuals from important shocks. Yet, voluntary demand from people has been low, shedding doubt on the viability of microinsurance as a useful risk-management tool. To better understand this puzzle, this paper reviews both the theoretical and empirical literature on the demand for insurance. While people's lack of understanding of insurance does seem to limit the demand for it, several more fundamental factors, such as price, quality, limited trust in the insurer, and liquidity constraints also seem to have an important role in explaining the puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the Internet of Things (IoT) is not new, its key components are becoming increasingly affordable now, which makes the technology extremely attractive for the Global South. By collecting data from various IoT sources, combining them with data from other sources and using big data analytics, decisions can be made and actions can be taken that can have important economic, social, ecological and environmental implications in these countries. The most visible impacts of the IoT in these countries include improvements in agricultural and food systems, enhancement of environmental security and resource conservation, achievement of better healthcare, public health and medicine, and enhancement of the efficiency of key industries. This paper provides an overview of how the IoT is currently being used in the Global South. It also discusses the opportunities and challenges that IoT initiatives present there. The analysis indicates that the IoT may address some of the institutional bottlenecks, technological challenges and key sources of high transaction costs. On the other hand, various sources of underdevelopment may act as barriers to full utilisation of the IoT. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose - The purpose of this study was to, using a case study research design informed by organizational economics theory, to examine the prospects for micro-insurance in promoting micro-credit in a low-income Anglophone country in sub-Saharan Africa - The Gambia. Two main research questions are addressed: first, what is the most appropriate micro-finance institution (MFI) organizational structure to maximize the economic benefits of micro-insurance? Second, what are the financial management and wider economic benefits of the use of micro-insurance by MFIs? Design/methodology/approach - To address our two research questions, we used a semi-structured interviewprotocol, informed by the organizational economics literature, to interpret the data collected from our field cases. We believe that these intrinsic qualities of case study methodology are particularly apt in the present study, given the complex and emergent nature of micro-finance and micro-insurance in low-income countries such The Gambia. By focusing on case studies in a single country, we also to some extent help control for variations in business environment that could confound interpretations of field data obtained from different jurisdictions. Findings - The results of our study suggest that the mutual (cooperative) structure of credit unions is likely to be the most cost-efficient and effective organizational form for reducing information asymmetries, agency problems and transaction costs. We also observe that micro-insurance can help reduce the risk of loan defaults, thereby increasing returns on savings and lowering the costs of debt. As such, micro-insurance stimulates the demand-supply of financial intermediation in less developed countries and so helps promote economic development. In addition to contributing new insights, our findings have potentially important commercial and public policy implications. Research limitations/implications - We acknowledge that our research is subject to inherent limitations such as the focus on three interviews in three different types of MFI organization while excluding other structural forms of organization such as government-owned/sponsored organizations. Nonetheless, the organizational characteristics of the cases examined in the present study are representative of most MFIs in developing countries. Given the prevalent hierarchical nature of corporate systems in sub-Saharan Africa, the views of the interviewees are also deemed to reflect those of other board members. Nonetheless, we acknowledge that the conclusions from our research may need to be tempered in line with these inherent limitations with the research approach adopted. Practical implications - The insights obtained from our Gambia-based research could be generalized to developing countries elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, and indeed, other parts of the developing world. Consequently, the study could be of interest and relevance to international financiers (e.g. the World Bank), aid agencies, governments and other development organizations. Originality/value - Despite its evident business and development potential, academic management research on micro-insurance, and in particular, its role in supporting micro-finance initiatives, is still very much at an embryonic stage. Our study thus seeks to fill this knowledge gap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is reported to have the most dynamic micro-insurance market in the world and the largest weather-index insurance market among developing countries. This is interesting because, paradoxically, reports readily suggest that the primary hindrance for the industry is the widespread lack of effective demand for insurance. This paper seeks to identify, understand and problematize the paradox of resolutely promoting micro-insurance and its apparent rapid growth despite a manifest absence of demand for insurance. Neo-classical theories about risk-averse behaviour do not explain the current lack of appeal of insurance among the poor. Rather, I draw on a postcolonial political economy framework to argue that expert investment in getting prices and culture right while safeguarding micro-insurance supply currently explains the celebrated dynamism of Indian micro-insurance. I argue that promoting comprehensive institutional reform for an ideal investment and entrepreneurial climate involves securing mutually beneficial linkages, collaborations and knowledge within a broad assemblage of profit motives, insurance expertise, policy-makers and professionals. Insurance experts rule by promoting the micro-insurance sector while simultaneously investing in and gaining from discursive, material and pedagogical construction of this industry. Future research should address whether such processes and products are effective in managing financial risks of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Numerous researches have shown that most of low income and poor do not have financial protection in mitigating their financial losses. The purpose of this paper is to investigate firstly, whether there is any means of financial protection among the poor, and secondly, to determine their financial capacity and perseverance in making monthly contribution for a micro-takaful policy. The study was conducted on respondents who fall into the poverty level category in the rural area of Perak, Malaysia. It was found that 97% of the respondents are without financial protection and unable to contribute any amount of money to get the protection. The authors recommend that intervention and support from government is vital in providing the financial capacity for the poor to have the needed protection that principally cover death, medical and savings benefits. The Malaysian government should enforce a policy in providing aid to the poor via micro-takaful by providing subsidy and zakah forming part of their monthly contribution. With zakah fund, these low income and poor could have their own micro-takaful schemes which should be able to provide sufficient benefits, preventing them to be trapped into the poverty cycle permanently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although social security retirement programmes have been established in many developing countries, they cover only a small proportion of the elderly population. The situation will become more pressing as the numbers of needy elderly people increase. Because conventional social security programmes are unlikely to meet their needs in the foreseeable future, the role of alternatives such as micro-insurance should be explored. The article examines recent innovations in micro-insurance designed to protect elderly people and considers their potential to contribute to national efforts to provide social protection to all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the concepts of charity and development aid have changed significantly. Present concepts combine direct money transfer with co-production, knowledge sharing and the development of products and services designed for the need of developing and transition economies. The concept of micro-financing is a financial service which has proven to allow for entrepreneurs in the respective countries to start up their businesses. A relatively new financial product for these countries is micro-insurance. This article deals with the question whether consumers in the Netherlands are willing to donate micro-insurances and which factors influence this willingness to contribute to the non-profit micro-insurance approach of an insurance company. The data were collected with questionnaires among a sample of the Dutch population ( N = 504). The data have been processed in a one-way between-groups ANOVA, a paired sample t test and an ordinal regression analysis. The results show that approximately half of the Dutch consumers are willing to pay an additional amount on their insurance premium for the donation of micro-insurances. The amount of the insurance premium did, however, not affect the willingness to donate (WTD). If consumers could choose the beneficiary less people are willing to donate, yet those people are willing to donate more money. In conclusion, there is readiness among consumers to contribute to micro-insurance via an insurance company that assists in setting up micro-insurance projects. This indicates a possible role for companies to act as an intermediary between philanthropic acts and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: To reduce the burden of health expenditures in developing countries, health-insurance schemes have become popular and now feature prominently in poverty-reduction strategies. There is, however, limited empirical evidence on the effect of such schemes on the livelihoods of clients, especially regarding household strategies to finance medical expenditures. This paper explores the relationship between health insurance and other risk-coping strategies used to finance medical expenditures in Uganda. Insurance is associated with a lower frequency of asset sales but not with lower incidences of borrowing. The amount of money borrowed or generated through the sales of assets is lower for insured households. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The main objective of Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), namely the provision of a broad range of financial services such as deposits, loans, payment services, insurance and money transfers to the poor and to those excluded from the formal financial system, is not being effectively achieved in Ethiopia and Africa as a whole. The main reasons for this are the entry barriers characterizing formal finance like lack of funds for all the poor to access loans, unattractiveness of financial products in satisfying the needs of the poor, and lack of will, on the part of the urban poor, to seek formal finance. The informal microfinance, rarely acknowledged, has been making up for the deficits of MFIs with the majority of the urban poor, with no savings account or pension, depending on one crucial financial security - the Iddir. Iddirs, indigenous funeral societies, have proven adaptive and responsive and have been providing the bulk of the urban population and ruralurban migrants with funeral insurance. The need to explore and highlight the minute details of these informal microfinance operations and responses compelled this research to utilize a case study methodology, with Salam Iddir in Addis Ababa being the case. We show that microfinance products based on indigenous finance schemes progress appropriately towards the needs of the poor. In particular we argue that Iddirs are successful in maintaining their membership and receive a high level of commitment. If handled the right way Iddirs can contribute to poverty reduction and development, and MFIs can imitate and work in alliance with these indigenous funeral societies in creating micro-insurance and micro-saving products that scale-up beyond the micro-level as a sustainable part of the process of economic empowerment by which the poor can lift themselves from poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health services and modern medicines are out of reach for over one billion people globally. Micro-insurance for health is one method to address unmet health needs. This case study used a social exclusion perspective to assess the health and poverty impact of micro-insurance for health in Bangladesh and contrasts this with several micro-insurance systems for health offered in India. Micro-insurance for health in Bangladesh targeted towards the poor and the ultra-poor provides basic healthcare at an affordable rate whereas the Indian micro-insurance schemes for health have been implemented across larger populations and include high-cost and low-frequency events. Results of analysis of the existing literature showed that micro-insurance for health as currently offered in Bangladesh increased access to, and use of, basic health services among excluded populations but did not reduce the likelihood that essential health-related costs would be a catastrophic expense for a marginalized household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Indian insurance industry seems to be in a state of flux. While there has been a perceptible change in the market dynamics since liberalization and economic reforms, a considerable amount needs to be done for future growth and development of the market in an orderly and sustained manner. Micro-insurance refers to insurance products which are designed to provide risk cover for low-income people. Generally, these products are focused towards providing adequate coverage to this customer segment with flexible payment schedules for the lower premiums. To unleash this potential, insurance companies will need to show long-term commitment to the rural sector, design products that are suitable for the rural population and utilize appropriate distribution mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]