Empowering women one credit at a time with the W+ Standard
Over the last three years, the number of female smallholder farmers using Pula Advisors’ (hereafter known as Pula) insurance products has been growing across several Sub-Saharan African countries (Figure 1). While crop insurance continues to be considered as an important tool to build climate resilience among smallholder farmers, narrowing the existing gender gap is core to Pula’s strategy. Pula previously worked on a gender gap study with Shell Foundation and FCDO. An ongoing initiative with ADFI aims to create insurance products, distribution channels and training courses specific to women farmers.
Figure 1: Percentage of female smallholder farmers insured by Pula in selected countries
Education and awareness on agricultural best practices can make a difference in farmers’ production levels — particularly for female smallholders. Providing agronomic advisory is an important complementary service to Pula’s insurance products. Between November 2019 and November 2021, Pula underwent an audit process as part of its certification for the W+ Standard. The purpose of the audit was to measure the increase in education and knowledge, and food security among female smallholders in Kenya.
The W+ Standard quantifies women’s empowerment and channels funds directly to women. The certification was developed by Women Organising for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management (WOCAN). This is the first standard that measures women’s empowerment in agriculture in a transparent and quantifiable manner. The W+ Standard measures impact across six categories: income and assets, food security, time-savings, health, education and knowledge, and leadership (Figure 2). W+ units are generated based on an assessment on each category.
Figure 2: The six areas used to measure women’s empowerment
A total of 14,250 women farmers in Kitui County, Kenya, benefited from Pula’s education programme. The digital element involved providing agronomic advisory, while the in-person sensitisation sessions focussed on how insurance works, optimal crop-selection techniques, water management practices and fertiliser application. Women farmers understood that they had several options in the event of crop failure. They can replant seeds for a variety of crops to target a mixed harvest. Or they may receive a claim pay-out to compensate them for crop losses brought on by drought.
The audit found that Pula’s training sessions — both in person and digital — had led to a 65 percent change in knowledge and education for each woman farmer over the two-year period. This means that compared to a control group of female farmers, the audited farmers were 65 percent more likely to explain the difference between traditional agriculture and the techniques learnt from Pula’s training sessions.
The verification process found that many women farmers confidently recalled the techniques learned and understood how to apply them when farming. Many were already producing better quality crops and higher yields, aided by a high degree of knowledge-sharing between themselves. Despite this, women smallholders were likely to sell crops at a loss to generate cash. To counter this, Pula encouraged the farmers to reduce this practice by providing insurance services bundled with inputs. However, access to market remains a key requirement for the farmers to secure the best possible price for their crops.
Importantly, the audit found that the women’s lives had improved — both in terms of knowledge and food security. Providing access to insurance and agricultural technologies to improve climate resilience is an important first step in overcoming food insecurity. However, the W+ verification team concluded that sustained interventions may lead to better understanding of crop health and diseases related to food insecurity. These activities may lead to greater confidence on how to improve food insecurity too, particularly through crop rotation or alternative crops.
Improving food security can have positive benefits beyond being able to feed families. Women without sufficient food for their families may look for additional work, often relying on men for these opportunities. This makes many women farmers vulnerable to incidences of sexual harassment. In addition to sharing knowledge, the audit found that women farmers were more likely to support each other by sharing access to credit and pooling their purchasing power to buy food in bulk quantities.
The audit was carried out by a certified third party, based on defined criteria and a methodology to ensure quality. Based on these findings, WOCAN generated 92,625 W+ Knowledge and Education units. Each unit represents a 10 percent positive change in a woman’s life. For instance, Pula’s training programme highlighted techniques to improve efficiency and time spent on agricultural activities. This can be categorised as time-saving, leading to a unit being generated.
Each unit is unique and has the potential to channel direct financial resources to women smallholders. Units are generated and traded on a secure platform hosted by IHS Markit. This process assigns a monetary value to each unit. When traded, 50 percent of the proceeds of unit sales go directly back to the women involved. This will create a new revenue source for female farmers, and a wider positive impact for their communities.
This has the potential to add further brand value to Pula by cementing our position as a leader in supporting rural women’s development in low- and middle-income countries.
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