Feasibility of agricultural micro insurance in Cambodia

In order to make a substantiated go-no go decision about entering into agricultural micro insurance, more information is needed in three fields:

• What are the risks that Cambodian farmers deal with?
• What are needs expressed by Cambodian farmers regarding the management of their risks?
• What is the existing infrastructure in Cambodian target areas which can help/hinder delivery of agricultural micro insurance products?

Quick scan and synthesis missions

A one-week quick scan mission was conducted to start formulating provisional answers to the three questions above. The mission can also be used to prepare the ground for further investigations and/or decision making later in the trajectory.

Depending on the outcome of the quick scan, several specific actions can be taken in order to answer the three above-mentioned questions. Assuming that not all information will be readily available during the quick scan mission, a synthesis mission can be planned two months later, with preparatory data collection performed by a Cambodian consultant.

The focus for such a synthesis mission depends on the outcome of the quick scan, but could include:

• A field research (based on qualitative interviews and focus groups) to answer question 2;
• A further exploration of a technical areas. This could range from fact-finding about available weather measurement tools and other geo-spatial data, looking at livestock insurance or crop insurance, or looking at ways to strengthen prevention mechanisms at family/farm level.