Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather?
Severe weather conditions can undo even the best efforts of families to break free of poverty. Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming are especially at the mercy of severe weather. Droughts and floods wipe out crops, leaving fam...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16532940/can-small-farmers-protect-against-bad-weather http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22638 |
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okr-10986-226382021-04-23T14:04:10Z Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? World Bank AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AGRICULTURAL SELF-EMPLOYMENT CAREGIVERS CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS CASH TRANSFERS CLIMATE CHANGE DIVERSIFICATION DROUGHT FARM HOUSEHOLDS FARMERS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCOME INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES INSURANCE IRRIGATION LEARNING NUTRITION POOR RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL FAMILIES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL POVERTY RURAL POVERTY RATES SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN SMALL FARMERS SMALL-SCALE FARMING SOCIAL PROTECTION SUBSISTENCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS VOCATIONAL TRAINING Severe weather conditions can undo even the best efforts of families to break free of poverty. Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming are especially at the mercy of severe weather. Droughts and floods wipe out crops, leaving families hungry or without anything to sell to pay for essentials such as school fees or medicines. Climate changes have made weather even more variable in many countries, exacerbating problems such as droughts, extreme temperatures and flooding. Policymakers seeking to offset the unexpected have increasingly used cash transfer programs to help families through difficult times. But what makes a difference in the long-term? Are small grants or training programs effective methods to help farm households develop non-agricultural businesses, thereby enabling them to better manage weather shocks? To understand what might allow families to better manage risks, the World Bank supported an evaluation of a pilot program in Nicaragua to encourage rural households to diversify beyond small-scale farming. The project found that two years after the program ended, households that received vocational training or investment grants to start non-agricultural businesses were better protected against the negative effects of severe drought than families that only received conditional cash transfers. These results suggest that helping farmers develop other income-generating different businesses can be an effective and sustainable approach to reducing poverty by protecting them against the financial repercussions of severe weather and climate changes. This Evidence to Policy note was jointly produced by the World Bank Group, the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF), and the British governments Department for International Development. 2015-09-16T21:29:43Z 2015-09-16T21:29:43Z 2012-06 Brief http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16532940/can-small-farmers-protect-against-bad-weather http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22638 English en_US From evidence to policy; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Brief Nicaragua |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AGRICULTURAL SELF-EMPLOYMENT CAREGIVERS CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS CASH TRANSFERS CLIMATE CHANGE DIVERSIFICATION DROUGHT FARM HOUSEHOLDS FARMERS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCOME INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES INSURANCE IRRIGATION LEARNING NUTRITION POOR RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL FAMILIES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL POVERTY RURAL POVERTY RATES SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN SMALL FARMERS SMALL-SCALE FARMING SOCIAL PROTECTION SUBSISTENCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS VOCATIONAL TRAINING |
| spellingShingle |
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AGRICULTURAL SELF-EMPLOYMENT CAREGIVERS CASH TRANSFER PROGRAM CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS CASH TRANSFERS CLIMATE CHANGE DIVERSIFICATION DROUGHT FARM HOUSEHOLDS FARMERS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INCOME INCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIES INSURANCE IRRIGATION LEARNING NUTRITION POOR RURAL RURAL AREAS RURAL COMMUNITIES RURAL FAMILIES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS RURAL POVERTY RURAL POVERTY RATES SCHOOL SUPPLIES SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN SMALL FARMERS SMALL-SCALE FARMING SOCIAL PROTECTION SUBSISTENCE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT TARGETING TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TRAINING PROGRAMS VOCATIONAL TRAINING World Bank Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| geographic_facet |
Nicaragua |
| relation |
From evidence to policy; |
| description |
Severe weather conditions can undo even
the best efforts of families to break free of poverty.
Households that rely on subsistence or small-scale farming
are especially at the mercy of severe weather. Droughts and
floods wipe out crops, leaving families hungry or without
anything to sell to pay for essentials such as school fees
or medicines. Climate changes have made weather even more
variable in many countries, exacerbating problems such as
droughts, extreme temperatures and flooding. Policymakers
seeking to offset the unexpected have increasingly used cash
transfer programs to help families through difficult times.
But what makes a difference in the long-term? Are small
grants or training programs effective methods to help farm
households develop non-agricultural businesses, thereby
enabling them to better manage weather shocks? To understand
what might allow families to better manage risks, the World
Bank supported an evaluation of a pilot program in Nicaragua
to encourage rural households to diversify beyond
small-scale farming. The project found that two years after
the program ended, households that received vocational
training or investment grants to start non-agricultural
businesses were better protected against the negative
effects of severe drought than families that only received
conditional cash transfers. These results suggest that
helping farmers develop other income-generating different
businesses can be an effective and sustainable approach to
reducing poverty by protecting them against the financial
repercussions of severe weather and climate changes. This
Evidence to Policy note was jointly produced by the World
Bank Group, the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund (SIEF), and
the British governments Department for International Development. |
| format |
Brief |
| author |
World Bank |
| author_facet |
World Bank |
| author_sort |
World Bank |
| title |
Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| title_short |
Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| title_full |
Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| title_fullStr |
Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Can Small Farmers Protect Themselves Against Bad Weather? |
| title_sort |
can small farmers protect themselves against bad weather? |
| publisher |
Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2015 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/06/16532940/can-small-farmers-protect-against-bad-weather http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22638 |
| _version_ |
1764451636938276864 |