The interplay of gender norms and education in male farmers’ adoption of index-based insurance in Mali

Purpose Agricultural index-based insurance helps farmers to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. However, adoption rates remain low in developing countries. A number of reasons such as basis risk, high insurance premium and lack of trust in insurance providers, have been cited for the low adoption among farmers. Additional influencing factors could be the characteristics of the insurance agent who sells insurance policies to farmers. In this study, we examine whether the gender of the insurance agent influences male farmers’ adoption of index-based insurance, disaggregated by the educational level of farmers. Design/methodology/approach We run probit regressions on a sample of 783 male farmers producing maize in Mali, which was collected in fall of 2021. Findings Our results show that male farmers are less likely to adopt index-based insurance if the insurance agent is a female rather than a male. Disaggregated by education level, we find that the higher the education level of the farmer, the more irrelevant the gender of the agent becomes for the purchase decision. Originality/value Our study highlights the need to take local gender norms into account and shows that formal education is an important facilitator of balanced gender perceptions. We contribute to the discussion about farmers’ low adoption of index-based insurance, particularly in Mali.