Publication database

Research Paper #27 provides a legal analysis of the contractual vulnerability of microinsurance consumers and studies mechanisms that effectively protect them. While consumer protection is essential to address contractual vulnerability issues, it should be based on a legal framework and should place obligations on states, insurers, reinsurers and intermediaries who participate in the value chain of microinsurance.

Based on the experiences of innovative microfinance institutions (MFIs), it is clear that they can provide risk-management services that are valuable for clients and MFIs alike. Microinsurance Paper #18 provides a comprehensive review of the challenges and successes of microfinance institutions and offers ten key recommendations.

Adequate recruitment, training, incentives, and monitoring of a sales force are indispensable for selling microinsurance effectively. Briefing Note #14 summarizes lessons to improve performance throughout these four areas.

Why are demand and renewal rates for microinsurance so low despite the important protection it may offer? To address the puzzle, Research Paper #26 provides a selective overview of the current state of research on demand for microinsurance. It first looks at the theoretical research and then reviews the empirical evidence on the factors influencing demand for insurance.

In this video interview, Carolyn Miles the president and CEO of Save the Children, shares her insights about the power of partnerships.

In this video interview, Nestlé’s Janet Voûte discusses the link between business growth and societal needs.

This briefing document introduces the topic of value chains, the difference between traditional and modern markets and IFAD's work on value chains

This study aims to deepen our understanding of the range of possibilities available for engaging the private sector in food security and improved nutrition at the Base of the Pyramid (“BoP”), be it via smallholders, entrepreneurs, or the actual consumers of food and food products. In this context five different business interventions for BoP ventures were identified that achieve social impact, financial sustainability and, potentially scale. Key challenges and lessons are presented with respect to barriers to growth, the scaling of processes, objectives and adequate business models. The study is based on the analysis of 16 cases and expert interviews.

Selling microinsurance is not easy. Convincing low income clients of the value of insurance is difficult, especially when sellers have no previous insurance experience or have other responsibilities in addition to selling insurance. Adequate training, incentives, and monitoring of the sales force are indispensable for selling microinsurance effectively. Properly trained and motivated sales staff can ensure that clients have positive experience with the sales process and a better understanding of how insurance works, leading to improved demand for insurance amongst low income communities. Cost efficient sales methods can enable microinsurance programmes to reach scale and become viable. Microinsurance Paper #16 provides lessons for microinsurance providers for the four main steps in sales force development: recruit, train, incentivize and monitor.

"Protecting the Poor: A microinsurance compendium, volume II", is a unique collection of recent practices and emerging ideas in microinsurance. It covers the numerous innovations that have emerged in recent years to meet the challenges of providing insurance to low-income people, from new products and delivery channels to consumer education tools, while examining institutional changes in regulations, providers and schemes. 
Offering a synthesis of new trends and practices in the growing market of microinsurance, this volume will be an invaluable resource for policy-makers and practitioners alike.