Uninsured risk has far reaching consequences for rural growth as well as poverty reduction. While there are a range of informal mechanisms to insure rural households from the impact of shocks, they are a modest component of a risk layering strategy, even for well off households and even less protective for low income households.
A number of promising innovations are being tried to address the needs for insuring low income rural populations and to fund safety net programs. This working paper explores the potential of these pilot programs.