Enabling Productive but Asset-Poor Farmers to Succeed : A Risk Financing Framework
This paper examines how market-based risk financing instruments could enable asset-poor but productive farmers exposed to production shocks to engage in riskier but higher-return agricultural activities. The financing of these exogenous shocks is addressed in a conceptual framework based on an optimal allocation of capital where the farm is viewed as a business unit. The approach allows for (1) testing the business viability of a specified crop by assessing the minimum business capital required to ensure the continuity of the business after the occurrence of an adverse production shock; and (2) designing an optimal risk financing program to finance the minimum capital requirements using a combination of instruments (insurance, savings, and borrowing). The authors provide numerical and graphical examples to illustrate the relevance of this financial approach to the specific issues of agricultural risk management.
Summary: | This paper examines how market-based
risk financing instruments could enable asset-poor but
productive farmers exposed to production shocks to engage in
riskier but higher-return agricultural activities. The
financing of these exogenous shocks is addressed in a
conceptual framework based on an optimal allocation of
capital where the farm is viewed as a business unit. The
approach allows for (1) testing the business viability of a
specified crop by assessing the minimum business capital
required to ensure the continuity of the business after the
occurrence of an adverse production shock; and (2) designing
an optimal risk financing program to finance the minimum
capital requirements using a combination of instruments
(insurance, savings, and borrowing). The authors provide
numerical and graphical examples to illustrate the relevance
of this financial approach to the specific issues of
agricultural risk management. |
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