Parametric Risk Transfer as Climate Change Adaptation
Expert TheoryReview
Climate change increases monsoon volatility and extreme rainfall events, threatening to depress major crop yields and force rural smallholders into low-risk, low-yielding poverty traps.
Picture this
Imagine a sailor building a sturdier, shock-absorbing boat hull; while the boat cannot stop the ocean storms from getting rougher, the improved hull allows the sailor to keep fishing in deeper, richer waters without capsizing.
What the evidence says
Predicted climate change from 2010–2039 is projected to reduce major Indian crop yields by 4.5% to 9.0%, but formal risk transfer enables farmers to maintain high-yield cash crop production despite heightened rainfall variability.
- Who was studied
- Synthesis of empirical weather shock literature and climate impact projections (e.g., Guiteras 2009) applied to Indian agricultural production.
- How
- Theoretical and empirical synthesis evaluating micro-insurance as an endogenous buffer against predicted climate volatility.
What to do
Integrate parametric rainfall index insurance into national climate adaptation strategies to protect agricultural productivity against rising monsoon volatility.
From the source
"While rainfall insurance cannot of course affect the climate, it may enable farmers to continue to produce risky crops in the face of increasing climate variability, lessening the real impact of climate change on productivity and incomes."
How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? Evidence from a Field Experiment