Farmers’ perception on status of livestock insurance in Surkhet district, Nepal

Abstract

Livestock is an important sector for sustained livelihoods of Nepalese people, particularly for small holder farmers. However, occurrence of any disease or disaster may get livestock as the source of sufferings. Livestock insurance can come up as an effective tool for risk management in livestock sector. This study covers the current status and perception of the farmers on livestock insurance. A total of 45 livestock farmers were selected purposively from three municipalities (15 from each municipality) in Surkhet district as Birendranagar Municipality (Birendranagar, Saldada), Bheriganga Municipality (Maintada) and Lekbeshi Municipality (Lekfarsa, Dasarathpur and Satakhani). Data was collected by face-to-face interview with farmers (45), focus group discussions (2) and key informant survey (4). Mortality, high cost of animal, production loss and price risk were the major risks encountered in the farm. Utilization of their saving and loan reimbursement was preferred by the farmers for capital management. Adoption of insurance among livestock owners was found motivated mainly by cooperatives, friends and family. Among twenty insurance companies offering insurance policies in Surkhet district, Everest Insurance Company Limited was popular. Only few farmers were found having complete awareness on livestock insurance. Majority of farmers agreed on insurance as an effective tool for risk management whereas only 64.44% of total respondent farmers were insuring their livestock, out of which 37.93 % had renewed their insurance package. Goats were mostly insured. This study indicates that better coverage, further process simplification, and perspicuity of livestock insurance scheme including awareness raising are essential for livestock insurance to approach higher level of insurance adopters.

Exploring trade prospects of Chhurpi and the present status of Chhurpi producers and exporters of Nepal

“…The age distribution of producers revealed that the maximum number of people involved in Chhurpi production was in between 20–30 and 30–40 years of age. This result concurs with the findings of Paudel [ 37 ] and Nepali [ 38 ], where the maximum working youth population of Nepal was reported to lie between 25–45 years of age group. This research finding has a minimum percentage of producers above 60, which is against the finding of some researchers from Bahrain [ 39 ].…”

“…Nonetheless, family structure of producers found in our study strongly coincides with the findings of Nepali, i.e. the majority of the producers belong to nuclear families [ 38 ] this might be due to the movement of the people from hilly areas to Terai in search of a better opportunity, to find a job, or education etc.…”

“…The educational status of Chhurpi producers in the current study was partially in line with Nepali [ 38 ]; as they reported that the percentage of farmers having higher secondary education was the second highest, while in our study, such farmers ranked first. These graduates entered this area since their family business used to be in the production industry and they had technical knowledge about it.…”

“…This research finding has a minimum percentage of producers above 60, which is against the finding of some researchers from Bahrain [ 39 ]. Moreover, Nepali reported that male farmers were more prevalent than female farmers when it came to raising livestock [ 38 ]. Our results comply with the findings of this researcher.…”