Bangladesh Microinsurance Market Development Project

The project

BMMDP will focus on piloting and testing different insurance products and distribution channels to identify and develop appropriate weather index-based crop insurance products and risk mitigation methods for agriculture sector (initially, crop and livestock sub-sectors) in Bangladesh. By the end of phase 1, approximately 233,000 farmers will use crop insurance (and associated extension and financial literacy training) covering 7,578 acres (3067 hectares) of land across 10 districts, an estimated 200,000 livestock keepers (if extended up to 2024, 400,000) will have access to improved veterinary and animal husbandry services, and 63,000 farmers (if extended to 2024, 103,000) will use livestock insurance. In total, at least 296,000 smallholders (if extended up to 2024, 336,000) are expected to have increased their resilience and well-being due to the sustainable risk-reducing and insurance services.

• With better access to crop and livestock insurance, smallholder farmers will have more income through increased productivity deriving from the higher quality crop inputs and livestock while their risks will be partially reduced by improved crop and livestock production practices and insurance risk transfer solutions.
• For both male and female farmers, additional income and greater access to risk reduction (e.g. veterinarian services) and transfer mechanisms (i.e. insurance) will contribute to increased resilience against natural disasters and encourage greater investment in costlier high-quality crop inputs and livestock.