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 55,920 hectares of land across 10 districts, an estimated 700,000 livestock keepers will have access to improved veterinary and animal husbandry services, and 500,000 farmers will use livestock insurance. In total, at least 733,000 smallholders 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.