A Study on Farmers' Perception and Preference in Subscribing to Drought-Index Crop Insurance in the Northern Region of Ghana

Abstract

Climate variability has become a challenge on the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana and its impacts becoming severer and as a result, crop insurance has since been seen as the best remedy. Data was obtained from 315 farmers in 15 communities of Tolon and Kumbungu districts and Savelugu-Nanton municipality using multistage sampling procedure. The data collected was used in analyzing maize farmers' perceptions as well as preferences in subscribing to crop drought-index insurance. A Likert Scale was used to analyze farmers' perception about crop index insurance whiles the Multinomial Logistic Regression model analyzed farmers' preference. Most of the respondents declared that crop index insurance is a production risk management tool that can be used to combat the negative effects of climate change on their farms and livelihood as a whole. However, it was concluded that, the most preferred crop insurance package is the public crop insurance package and government subsidy was the highest rank coping strategy. It is therefore imperative that Government role out crop insurance packages and subsidizes the initial stages of crop insurance programs to encourage participation by farmers to effectively mitigate against climate change.