Gender, Micro-Insurance, and Climate Shock Resilience Among Female Smallholder Farmers

African Journal of Gender and Women Studies | Vol. 11, No. 11, November 2026 | pp. 169–182

DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001357

Article Type: Research Article

Title: Gender, Micro-Insurance, and Climate Shock Resilience Among Female Smallholder Farmers

Names of Author: Wanjiru Ndegwa¹, Priya Malhotra², & Thomas Müller³

Author's Affiliation: ¹Department of Agricultural Economics, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya; ²Centre for Risk and Insurance Studies, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, India; ³Department of Development Economics, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany.

Abstract:
Weather-index crop insurance has been widely promoted as an innovative financial instrument to shield smallholder farmers from devastating droughts and floods. However, gender-disaggregated uptake data reveals that female farmers enroll in agricultural micro-insurance at substantially lower rates than men due to lack of formal land titles, liquidity constraints during planting seasons, and insurance contracts designed around male-controlled cash crops rather than women’s food crops. When climate disasters strike, uninsured female farmers are forced to sell productive assets or reduce household nutrition. This paper evaluates gender-tailored weather-index insurance pilots in rural Kenya and Rajasthan, India. Utilizing feminist economics and risk-governance frameworks, the study analyzes enrollment records alongside focus groups with 90 female farmers. We demonstrate that bundling index insurance with women’s savings groups and flexible mobile-money premium schedules enhances climate resilience.

Keywords: Micro-insurance, climate resilience, female smallholder farmers, feminist economics, weather-index insurance, agricultural risk, Kenya, India

Manuscript Timeline: Received: October 01, 2026; Revised: October 30, 2026; Accepted: November 03, 2026; Published: November 16, 2026.

Citation: Ndegwa, W., Malhotra, P., & Müller, T. (2026). Gender, Micro-Insurance, and Climate Shock Resilience Among Female Smallholder Farmers. African Journal of Gender and Women Studies, 11(11), 169–182. DOI: 10.46882/2026/AJGWS/001357

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